Board Votes to Review Malpractice Cases : Finance: Supervisors tentatively approve scrutiny. They hope to save funds and improve health care.

In a move aimed at saving taxpayers’ money and ensuring better medical care at county facilities, Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday tentatively voted to require that medical malpractice cases come before the board for approval.

The board unanimously and without discussion ordered that the county code be changed to require that all malpractice lawsuit settlements totaling more than $100,000 be approved by the board, as is the case with other county litigation.

The board’s action came in response to a report in The Times this month revealing that the county spent nearly $100 million during the last three years to defend and resolve malpractice cases without any review by the supervisors.

For 25 years, decisions regarding malpractice payouts have been delegated to the county counsel and the chief administrative officer.

Supervisor Gloria Molina, who proposed that malpractice cases be reviewed by the board in private meetings, has said that such scrutiny could save tax dollars and improve health care at the county’s six hospitals and 47 neighborhood clinics that largely serve the poor.

Board Chairman Deane Dana, who earlier defended the practice of leaving complex malpractice decisions to legal and medical experts, said Tuesday he “took another look” at the issue and decided to support board review.

“I don’t know if we spend half our time in executive session, sitting there watching one after another, we’ll all learn whether it’s a good idea or whether it isn’t a good idea,” Dana said. “But it isn’t going to hurt to try it.”

County Counsel DeWitt Clinton declined comment on the board action. But he previously questioned whether board review will increase accountability, noting that supervisors generally approve the recommendations of their legal experts on other litigation.

In a separate action, the supervisors ordered county attorneys to report back in a week on whether the county should conduct a study of ways that all county departments could reduce legal costs. Last year the county paid more than $50 million in settlements and court awards.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich proposed that the county hire retired state Supreme Court Justice John Arguelles to determine how state law could be changed to “stop the flood of frivolous lawsuits” that are costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

Molina and Supervisor Ed Edelman sought a delay in hiring Arguelles, saying they wanted to know the full scope of the study.

Antonovich said the study would be similar to one being conducted by retired Superior Court Judge James Kolts, who was hired by the supervisors late last year to investigate ways to reduce lawsuits against the Sheriff’s Department that have cost $34 million over the last four years.

Contending that changes in state law are necessary to prevent groundless lawsuits against the county, Antonovich cited a $7-million jury award that the county was ordered to pay a 31-year-old bicyclist who rammed his bike at night into a fence “after consuming a fifth of vodka.”

The bicyclist, who was left a quadriplegic after the 1986 accident, contended that the county was negligent in closing a gate on a bike path without posting warnings or lights, and he denied that he was intoxicated.

The county last year settled the case for $3.5 million in return for not pursuing an appeal.