Salgado

J. This matter involves the application of Code of Civil Procedure section 667.7 and Civil Code section 3333.2, both of which were enacted as part of the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA). The former provision requires the superior court, at the request of either party, to order that an award for future damages exceeding $50,000 in an action against a health care provider be paid on a periodic basis rather than in a lump sum. The latter provision places a cap of $250,000 on the liability of a health care provider, in an action based on professional negligence, for an injured plaintiff’s noneconomic losses.

Through his guardian ad litem, Jabes Salgado (hereafter plaintiff) brought this action for medical malpractice against, among others, the County of Los Angeles (hereafter County) for permanent injuries sustained at Harbor UCLA Medical Center during his birth. For his noneconomic injuries, the jury awarded plaintiff $10,000 for past and $550,000 for future pain and suffering. The superior court applied the statutory cap of $250,000 and, subtracting the $10,000 award, reduced the award for future pain and suffering to $240,000. It ordered that sum to be paid…