Missouri Supreme Court strikes down cap on medical malpractice damages

Missouri's Supreme Court has ruled that a 20-year-old, $350,000 cap on noneconomic medical malpractice damages -- pain and suffering -- takes away a citizen's right to trial by jury and is unconstitutional.

Modern Healthcare: Missouri Supreme Court Overturns Malpractice Caps
Overturning decades of prior legal rulings, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the state Legislature's $350,000 cap on noneconomic medical malpractice damages is an illegal violation of residents' constitutional right to a trial by jury. A divided court ruled  that "while this court always is hesitant to overturn precedent, it nonetheless has followed its obligation to do so where necessary to protect the constitutional rights of Missouri's citizens" (Carlson, 8/1).

Medscape: Missouri Supreme Court Strikes Down Malpractice Cap
The Missouri Supreme Court yesterday struck down a state law that caps non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases at $350,000. It declared that the law infringed on a person's right to trial by jury, which includes the right to have a jury set damages. The ruling, one of several recent setbacks for proponents of tough tort reform measures, illustrates the risk inherent in passing a federal law that would limit what a victorious plaintiff can receive in non-economic damages. Such a law, supported by organized medicine and congressional Republicans to curb supposedly frivolous suits and extravagant jury awards, theoretically could be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court (Lowes, 8/1).

Kansas Health Institute News: Missouri Justices Overturn Cap On 'Pain And Suffering'
The Missouri Supreme Court has struck down that state's cap on non-economic damages that can be awarded by a jury in a medical malpractice case. The Kansas Supreme Court has had the same issue before it for more than three years in the case of Miller v. Johnson. In a 4-3 decision released Tuesday, the Missouri court ruled that the state's limits on the amounts juries can award someone injured from medical malpractice violated the constitutional right to a jury trial (Ranney, 8/1).