Personal Injury Law

Missouri Medical Malpractice Damage Caps - Hypocrisy by Legislators to Exempt Only Abortion Cases from Damage Cap - Damage Cap should Return to Pre 2005 Tort Reform Level For All Victims of Malpractice

By Benjamin J. Sansone, Esq.

First of all, I am not supporting or opposing abortion rights in this post, on a personal level I disagree with the pro-choice position, however, on a legal level I believe it is a State issue. This post discusses a recent development in Missouri medical malpractice law.

State Representative Muschany is sponsoring a bill that would allow an exemption to medical malpractice damage caps for women making a Missouri medical malpractice claim related to an abortion procedure. Clearly an attempt to curtail abortion, however, my focus is on the hypocrisy of our legislature in their logic that the damage cap bars these women from adequate justice but for everybody else damage caps are OK and do not bar the victims and their family from justice simply because the negligent party was a health care provider.

When asked why he supported this exemption he stated "I want to protect young, vulnerable women", additionally he stated while women may not suffer economic damages resulting from a botched abortion, they confront ?considerable pain and suffering damages". What about other people that suffer a botched surgery or medical procedure that do not incur significant economic damages but confront considerable pain and suffering? What about an exemption for them, or does the insurance lobby have too much influence over him and others for them to admit it! He is making an argument that is counter-intuitive to the 2005 tort reform bill on damage caps.

As a Missouri medical malpractice injury lawyer I can site a dozen cases off the top of my head that victims and their families have brought to me where the malpractice is blatant, however, due to the lack of economic damages they are limited to $350,000 (assuming the legal claim is 100% successful) for serious injury or even death. Making the case economically infeasible to pursue as the medical malpractice insurers and their lawyers know the Plaintiffs have to spend significant amounts of money to bring the case and juries often side with doctors due to a successful propaganda campaign wages for the last decade.

As you may know, in 2005 the State of Missouri passed tort reform which imposed damage caps of $350,000 (not adjusted for inflation) on medical malpractice cases for non-economic damages (all damages that a victim does not have a bill for, i.e. daily pain and suffering of living with an injury). Therefore, if an elderly person with no income and no dependants dies suddenly as a result of a medical provider's negligence, then the family is limited to $350,000; regardless of the pain and suffering inflicted by the negligent act.

Sources:

The Columbia Missourian - 2/7/2008 Article

Missouri Bill Tracking

Full post as published by Missouri Injury Law Blog on February 12, 2008 (boomark / email).