While malpractice damages are widely feared to breach the million dollar mark, this is only true in serious injuries, and the typical quantum is substantially lower. According to The Wall Street Journal (Nov. 30, 2004, p. A-1), statistics from various governmental sources indicate that the median payment for damages on behalf of physicians was $150,000, and the amount of healthcare spending accounted for by malpractice costs was 2%. Still, awards in some cases can be shocking. In Warren v. Schecter, a California jury awarded $1.8 million plus periodic payments for future care, totaling $9.6 million over 34 years. The plaintiff, a young woman, had developed gastrointestinal complications and multiple osteoporotic fractures following gastric surgery, and had to be fed a special diet through a feeding tube. The case was against a surgeon who failed to warn of the remote risk of metabolic bone disease following gastric surgery.