For three years, California law gave families of deceased injury victims something they had never had before: the right to recover compensation for what their loved one actually endured before dying. The pain. The suffering. The disfigurement. Senate Bill 447 made that possible starting in 2022, and it changed the landscape of survival actions across the state.
That expansion is now gone.
On January 1, 2026, the SB 447 pilot program expired. The legislature failed to pass SB 29, which would have extended it. As of that date, California survival actions reverted to the pre-2022 rule: families can no longer recover noneconomic damages for a decedent’s pain, suffering, or disfigurement unless the case was filed before the cutoff. If your loved one died from injuries caused by someone else’s negligence, and you have not yet filed a survival action, the compensation available to your family just became significantly smaller.
This post explains what changed, why it matters, and what options remain for families navigating this new legal reality.
What SB 447 Did and Why It Mattered
Before 2022, California’s survival action statute, codified at Code of Civil Procedure section 377.34, barred recovery of noneconomic damages in survival claims. If a person was injured through someone else’s negligence and later died from those injuries, the estate could pursue economic losses like medical bills and lost income, but nothing for the physical agony the decedent experienced before death.
SB 447 changed that on a trial basis. From January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2025, estates could recover damages for the decedent’s pain, suffering, and disfigurement. This was a meaningful shift. In cases involving severe injuries, prolonged hospitalizations, or painful deaths, noneconomic damages often represented the largest portion of the claim. A victim who spent weeks in the ICU after a trucking collision, fully conscious and in constant pain, had a very different claim under SB 447 than under the old rule.
The pilot program also required courts to collect data on how these expanded damages affected litigation. The intent was to evaluate whether the change should become permanent. It did not. SB 29, which would have extended the program, failed in the face of opposition from the medical industry, which was concerned about conflicts with the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act framework. When the clock ran out on December 31, 2025, the expansion expired with it.
What the Reversion Means for Survival Actions Filed After January 1, 2026
Any survival action filed on or after January 1, 2026 is now subject to the pre-2022 limitations. Under the restored version of CCP section 377.34, estates are limited to:
- Economic damages, including past medical expenses, lost earnings, and other out-of-pocket losses the decedent incurred before death
- Punitive damages, but only in cases where the defendant’s conduct meets the clear and convincing evidence standard under Civil Code section 3294, meaning malice, oppression, or fraud
What is no longer available in newly filed cases is compensation for the decedent’s pain, suffering, or disfigurement. In practical terms, this means a family whose loved one suffered a traumatic brain injury, endured multiple surgeries, and died three months later can no longer ask a jury to compensate for that suffering. The jury can hear about the medical bills. It cannot award anything for what the person actually went through.
This distinction is not minor. In many survival cases, noneconomic damages were the primary driver of case value. Their elimination narrows the claim substantially.
How This Affects Different Types of Cases
The reversion applies across all categories of personal injury litigation where the victim dies after the injury occurs. It is not limited to any single practice area.
In auto accident cases, including collisions involving commercial trucks, a victim who survives the crash but dies days or weeks later from injuries creates a survival action. Under the old SB 447 rule, the estate could recover for the suffering during that survival period. Under the current rule, it cannot.
In premises liability cases, the same analysis applies. A slip and fall victim who lingers in a care facility before dying from complications leaves behind a survival claim that is now limited to economic losses.
In product liability cases, including defective vehicle components or dangerous consumer products, the reversion similarly eliminates noneconomic recovery in the survival action.
Medical malpractice cases present a particular complexity. MICRA already caps noneconomic damages in medical negligence claims, and the tension between MICRA and SB 447 was one of the reasons the medical industry lobbied against SB 29. For families pursuing malpractice-related survival claims filed after January 1, 2026, both the MICRA cap structure and the reversion to pre-2022 survival rules now apply.
John Reardon practiced as a chiropractor for 20 years before becoming a personal injury attorney. In that clinical role, he treated patients recovering from serious injuries, and he watched firsthand how prolonged pain and physical deterioration affect a person’s quality of life. When we evaluate a survival action, we bring that medical background to the analysis. We understand what a client’s loved one likely experienced during a survival period, and we know how to document and present that suffering in jurisdictions where it remains compensable, or how to maximize economic damages where it does not.
What Families Can Still Recover and How to Protect Those Claims
The reversion does not eliminate survival actions entirely. It narrows them. Families should understand what remains available and how to build the strongest possible claim within the current framework.
Economic damages in a survival action can still be substantial. Past medical expenses, including emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, rehabilitation, and any other treatment the decedent received between the injury and death, are fully recoverable. Lost earnings during the survival period are recoverable. Other out-of-pocket costs tied to the injury are recoverable.
Punitive damages remain available in cases involving egregious conduct. If the defendant acted with malice, such as a drunk driver who knew they were impaired and drove anyway, or a corporation that concealed a known product defect, a punitive damages claim may survive the reversion. These cases require a higher evidentiary burden, but they are not foreclosed.
Wrongful death claims under CCP section 377.60 are separate from survival actions and are not affected by the SB 447 reversion. Surviving family members, including spouses, children, and in some cases parents or other dependents, can still pursue wrongful death claims for their own losses: loss of financial support, loss of companionship, and related damages. The reversion affects only the survival action brought on behalf of the decedent’s estate.
For families dealing with both a survival action and a wrongful death claim, coordinating the two requires careful legal strategy. The damages available in each claim are distinct, the parties who can bring each claim differ, and the evidentiary focus shifts depending on which claim is at issue.
Documenting Economic Damages Thoroughly Under the New Framework
Because noneconomic damages are no longer available in newly filed survival actions, the quality and completeness of economic damage documentation becomes more important than ever. Families and their attorneys need to build a comprehensive record of every cost the decedent incurred from the date of injury through death.
This means gathering complete medical billing records from every provider, including hospitals, specialists, rehabilitation facilities, home health agencies, and pharmacies. It means documenting lost wages with employment records, pay stubs, tax returns, and employer statements. It means accounting for transportation costs, home modification expenses, and any other out-of-pocket losses the decedent or the estate absorbed.
John Reardon’s background in clinical practice gives us a specific advantage here. We understand medical billing, treatment sequencing, and how to read records in a way that identifies recoverable costs that a purely legal review might miss. We know what a reasonable course of treatment looks like for a given injury, and we can identify gaps or inconsistencies in billing records before the defense does.
We also work with medical and economic experts when the case warrants it. In cases involving extended survival periods or complex injuries, projecting the full scope of economic loss requires more than adding up invoices. It requires expert analysis that can withstand cross-examination.
What Families Should Do Now
If your loved one died from injuries caused by someone else’s negligence, and you have not yet consulted with an attorney, the time to act is now. The statute of limitations for survival actions in California is generally two years from the date of the decedent’s death under CCP section 335.1, though exceptions apply in certain circumstances. Missing that deadline eliminates the claim entirely.
Beyond the statute of limitations, early action matters for practical reasons. Evidence degrades. Witnesses become harder to locate. Medical records get archived or destroyed. The sooner we begin investigating, the stronger the evidentiary foundation we can build.
We also want to evaluate whether a wrongful death claim exists alongside the survival action, whether punitive damages are viable given the facts, and how to structure the overall case to maximize what the family can recover under the current legal framework.
The SB 447 window has closed. We cannot change that. What we can do is make sure your family’s remaining claims are pursued with the same rigor and medical-legal expertise we bring to every case.
If you lost a loved one due to someone else’s negligence and want to understand your options, contact Reardon Injury Law for a free consultation. We will review the facts, explain what claims are available, and help you make informed decisions about how to move forward.