$1.575 Million Landmark Medical Malpractice Verdict

The case arose after plaintiff Hamid Rashidi underwent an embolization procedure intended to stop a severe nosebleed. During the procedure, tiny embolic particles known as embospheres inadvertently traveled into an artery supplying blood to his right eye, leaving him permanently blind in that eye. Mr. Rashidi alleged that his physician failed to take the necessary precautions to prevent this devastating complication.

At trial, the jury found in favor of Mr. Rashidi and awarded substantial damages, including compensation for future medical care and significant non-economic damages related to his permanent loss of vision and suffering. Under California’s MICRA law, however, the trial court reduced the jury’s noneconomic damages award to the statutory cap of $250,000.

The case ultimately reached the California Supreme Court, where a critical legal issue arose: whether settlement amounts paid by other defendants — including a hospital and a medical device manufacturer — could further reduce the plaintiff’s capped noneconomic damages recovery against the physician.

In a significant victory for injured patients and medical malpractice plaintiffs throughout California, the California Supreme Court ruled in Rashidi v. Moser that MICRA’s damages cap applied only to jury awards for noneconomic damages and could not be reduced further by settlement offsets from other defendants. The Court emphasized that MICRA was intended to limit unpredictable jury awards, not discourage settlements or deprive injured plaintiffs of negotiated compensation.

The decision established important precedent under California law and clarified the application of MICRA in multi-defendant medical malpractice cases. In addition to obtaining a $1,575,000 result for his client, Daniel Balaban helped secure a lasting legal victory that continues to impact medical negligence litigation statewide.