Legal Briefs: Missouri State Supreme Court Upholds Caps on Medical Malpractice Damages

Missouri’s state Supreme Court has ruled that limiting the amount of damages a person can recover in a medical malpractice case for pain and suffering (non-economic damages) does not violate the state’s constitution. The decision was the result of a challenge to a 2015 law limiting non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases to $400,000 for injury and $700,000 for catastrophic injury.

The Background

In 2012, the Court deemed a similar law, imposing a flat $350,000 cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases unconstitutional, holding that the limits violated the common law right to jury trial. But by approving the 2015 caps, the legislature repealed the common law medical malpractice cause of action and replaced it with a statutory medical negligence action, giving it the ability to enact caps.

The Decision

The decision stems from a case where a patient was awarded $1 million in non-economic damages by a jury based on negligence related to the delivery of her child and postpartum care. The defendants asked the court to reduce the award in compliance with the 2015 caps, and the plaintiff appealed.

Medical malpractice claims are the most commonly capped damages among the states. Over half of the states cap non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases, and a handful (including Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Virginia) had caps that limit both economic and non-economic damages. There is also a small group of states (including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Washington) where caps have been deemed unconstitutional.

Ann W. Latner, JD, is a freelance writer and attorney based in New York. She was formerly the director of periodicals at the American Pharmacists Association and editor of Pharmacy Times.