Consumer Watchdog Director Scott Olsen has traveled the state and the nation advocating for increased patient protections and fighting efforts to limit the rights of people and families harmed by medical malpractice. His late wife, Kathy Olsen, was a Consumer Watchdog Director until 2015. Scott stepped in to carry on her legacy and the fight for patient rights.
Scott and Kathy founded the Steven Andrew Olsen Coalition for Patients’ Rights, after their wonderful son Steven was injured as a result of medical negligence. The Olsens’ story has been told in television and newspaper stories around the nation.
Scott was a proponent of the Fairness for Injured Patients Act, a California ballot initiative proposed to reverse the injustice of a $250,000 cap on damages for medical negligence victims, the infamous 1975 MICRA law (Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act). Kathy and Scott started the journey to overturn MICRA three decades ago, when then-two-year-old Steven was injured on a hike in the woods and left with permanent brain damage due to medical negligence. For Steven’s lifetime of blindness and disability, the jury awarded him $7 million in non-economic damages. The judge reduced that to $250,000 when they left the room, because of MICRA.
The initiative was the catalyst for a perfect storm that resulted in an historic legislative deal between long-time antagonists – patients, attorneys, doctors and insurance companies – to update the cap for the first time in 48 years. AB 35 passed in May 2022 and will increase the cap annually until it reaches $1 million for wrongful deaths, and $750,000 for other injuries.
Scott’s work as a patient advocate has been recognized across the country. He has received the Steven J. Sharp Award from the American Association for Justice, received Consumer Attorneys of California’s Consumer Civil Rights Award, Consumer of the Year and Fighting for Patients recognition. Scott, Kathy and Steven Olsen were inducted into the Consumer Advocate Hall of Fame at Consumer Watchdog’s inaugural Rage for Justice Awards.
Scott was a Senior Editor for an IT company before he left his job to care for his son after his wife’s untimely death. He is a graduate of San Diego State University, and presently lives with his son Steven in Chula Vista, California.
