Continued Confusion Over Government Claims.

These are the allegations: A man was released from a state mental hospital but was not provided his psychotropic medication or any guidance on how to obtain it. Twelve days later, he was discovered “unconscious, lying on his blood-soaked bed in a pool of his own blood,” after cutting off his own genitals with a knife because “the devil” told him to do it. Within six months his lawyer mailed a government claims form to the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board. The Board affixed its stamp on the claim and assigned it a claim number, but the lawyer had not included the required $25 filing fee. Receiving no response, the lawyer filed a complaint for medical negligence. Defendant State of California’s Department of State Hospitals filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings because plaintiff had not filed a “proper” claim. The trial court granted the motion and dismissed the action. The appellate court reversed, stating: “We hold the timely filing and apparent acceptance of a government claim for which plaintiff inadvertently did not pay the $25 filing fee do not bar his claim.” (Sykora v. State Department of State Hospitals  (Cal. App. Second Dist., Div. 6; May 6, 2014)225 Cal.App.4th 1530.)