Landmark battles: some of the biggest medical malpractice cases in Southern California's recent history.

Willie Shoemaker (1993): The former jockey filed a $50 million lawsuit against Glendora Community Hospital and the seven doctors who treated him after he drove his Ford Bronco oft a 30-foot embankment. The accident rendered him a paraplegic. His suit against the California Highway Department for not having a guardrail was ultimately dropped. In 1997, he settled with Ford Motor Co. for $2.5 million and negotiated a confidential settlement with the doctors and the hospital.

Hank Gathers (1990): The family of the Loyola Marymount University basketball star sued the school's coach, trainer and athletic director, seven doctors and three medical practices after Gathers collapsed on court and later died from a heart disorder. Eleven defendants settled, including Gathers' cardiologist, for $1 million. Loyola's insurance carrier settled for $1.4 million. The case was ultimately dismissed against Kerlan-Jobe Southern California's recent history. Orthopedic Group of Inglewood and two doctors who treated Gathers that night.

Ashley Hughes (1987): The family of newborn Hughes sued the doctor at Pomona Valley Community Hospital who twisted her spinal cord with forceps during her delivery, rendering her a quadriplegic. The hospital settled early in the case. In 1991, a Los Angeles jury awarded Hughes' family $21 million, or $460 million paid over her lifetime, the largest malpractice award in California at the time.

Harry Jordan (1982): The owner of an insurance agency was awarded $5.2 million three years after doctors removed his healthy left kidney instead of his cancerous right one. He and his wife sued six doctors, two medical groups and Long Beach Community Hospital, where the surgery occurred. The jury verdict was awarded against four of the doctors and Grobert-Sawyer Medical Corp.