Not only are doctors protected in Initiative 330, non-medical staff and numerous other tangential individuals would benefit from this coverage, allowing still more harm to fall to those under bad medical care. For instance, if a janitor assaulted a patient at a hospital, pain-and-suffering damages would only be $350,000 per medical institution and $700,000 per case. While this sounds like quite the benefit, it does not suit well to those who would suffer long-term causes, or left with hefty expenses by their dearly departed. The payments would also be given periodically, rather than lump-sum, and would be cut off upon a defendant’s death rather than given to relatives. This was a miserable situation when it was just doctors facing this false shield; what damage would it do when given a much wider range?
Also, the initiative would amend the “Vulnerable Adults Act”, which would empower the elderly and disabled clients of nursing homes, in-home care and other health services to sue for neglect, abuse, abandonment or financial exploitation. This simultaneously takes away their ability to collect attorney and witness fees in these cases, making it difficult for the elderly to find a willing lawyer. It would seem that I-330 is dangerous, giving a wider scale of people freedom from responsibility over an even larger group of individuals.
