Missouri Supreme Court Reviews Constitutionality of Medical Malpractice Caps

The Missouri Supreme Court is reconsidering medical malpractice award caps. The outcome could profoundly affect victims of medical negligence.

2012-07-04

July 04, 2012 (Press-News.org) Missouri Supreme Court Reviews Constitutionality of Medical Malpractice Caps

The Missouri Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of the state's tough statutory limits on medical malpractice awards. Many believe that the caps deny crucial compensation to victims of medical negligence.

Current Missouri Medical Malpractice Cap

In 2005, the state of Missouri adopted a law that limits medical malpractice awards to $350,000 for non-economic damages, regardless of the number of defendants involved in the case. Non-economic damages are those which are awarded in addition to the actual cost of injury and litigation fees in personal injury cases.

The law requires that jurors in a medical malpractice case may not be reminded of the limit when determining non-economic awards; instead, courts will automatically adjust the amount the jury awards if it exceeds $350,000. This means that even when a jury finds an award greater than $350,000 to be appropriate in a case, the court will automatically decrease the award to stay within the limit.

Lastly, the statute clarifies that punitive damages may be awarded only if plaintiffs can prove that a health care provider acted in a willful, wanton or malicious way, and that these actions contributed to their injuries.

The Supreme Court to Reconsider Medical Malpractice Caps

A recent state Supreme Court case has brought Missouri's medical malpractice award limit to center stage. A mother has claimed her son contracted cerebral palsy as the result of her physician's failure to act when her son showed signs of distress in the womb. The physician's lack of action caused "catastrophic and disabling brain injuries," according to the mother's brief to the Supreme Court.

Her son's cerebral palsy prevents him from walking and caused developmental delays. In 2011, a jury awarded the mother and her family $4.8 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit, including $1.45 million in non-economic damages. However, once this award was announced, the court automatically applied the state's mandated award limit, reducing the plaintiff's award from $1.45 million to $350,000.

In her brief to the Supreme Court, the mother claims that the lower court erred in reducing the award from $1.45 million to $350,000 and in doing so violated several constitutional rights, including a right to trial by jury, the constitutional separation of powers between the state-mandated cap and the judicial system and the equal protection clause. The plaintiff also claims the cap provides "special legislative protection" to health care providers.

If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the plaintiff, parties injured by medical malpractice may be able to recover the entire compensation the jury awards them, not just $350,000. Often, medical, emotional and other problems persist after a medical injury, causing more costs to the victim. Courts should allow these victims to collect appropriate compensation for all consequences of their injury. If you or a loved one has been injured by a health care provider and believe malpractice is to blame, please contact an experienced personal injury attorney to explore your legal options.

Article provided by Devereaux, Stokes, Nolan, Fernandez & Leonard, P.C.
Visit us at www.gonzalofernandez.com

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Paying Child Support After a Child Turns 18

2012-07-04

Paying Child Support After a Child Turns 18 Many people who are subject to a child support order wonder if they can automatically stop making payments once the child reaches the age of 18. Parents who receive support payments have this question as well, because they often pay many of their children's expenses as they attend college. The answer is not always simple and depends on a number of factors. Generally, court-ordered child support must be paid until a child reaches the age of 18, is legally emancipated or becomes married. The support obligation may also terminate ...

Actos Litigation Streamlined To Aid Victims

2012-07-04

Actos Litigation Streamlined To Aid Victims A recent order issued by a judicial panel will likely streamline the filing process for those who were injured by the diabetes drug Actos. Use of the medication - which is designed to treat type 2 diabetes - for more than one year allegedly increases the risk of heart failure and bladder cancer, along with other potentially severe side effects. Cases against the manufacturer of Actos, Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., are being filed throughout the country. In an attempt to expedite relief for victims of the medication, the ...

Creditors Still Try to Collect During Bankruptcy

2012-07-04

Creditors Still Try to Collect During Bankruptcy The automatic stay is a fundamental part of the bankruptcy process. It is essentially a grace period granted to debtors who have filed for bankruptcy protection that prevents creditors contacting them or collecting on any debts listed in the petition. The stay goes into effect immediately upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition, and generally continues until the court orders a discharge. Once a discharge is granted, a debtor's legal obligation to pay most debt is extinguished. Unfortunately, this does not stop some ...

Bank of America May Reduce Mortgages For Some New Jersey Residents

2012-07-04

Bank of America May Reduce Mortgages For Some New Jersey Residents As part of an $11.8 billion dollar settlement, Bank of America is mailing letters to many of its mortgage customers offering loan modifications. Approximately 200,000 customers, including some in New Jersey, could be impacted by these loan modifications. Some Bank of America loans will be reduced by as much as $100,000. To qualify, borrowers must be at least 60 days behind on payments and owe more than the house is worth, among other criteria. More than 11 million American households owe more than ...

Seaman Fatigue: A Hidden Problem with Serious Consequences

2012-07-04

Seaman Fatigue: A Hidden Problem with Serious Consequences Most Americans have experienced fatigue in the course of their work lives, such as trudging into work after a sleepless night or carrying life's worries into the workplace. Unfortunately, working while fatigued can be particularly dangerous for those who are in charge of the nation's most complex machinery like airplanes, trains and ships. What is Fatigue? According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), fatigue is caused by poor quality sleep or insufficient sleep due primarily to a worker's ...

Hampton Inn Spartanburg Hotel North Offers Special Rates to Choral Festival 2012 Participants

2012-07-04

Hampton Inn Spartanburg Hotel North offers nearby lodging and special rates to attendees at the 2012 Choral Festival for Christian music supply. The event will take place at First Baptist Church of Spartanburg on August 2-4, 2012, with a bonus night, open to the community, on August 1. Participants can book special hotel rates of $74 per night at the Hampton Inn Spartanburg North. The special rate is subject to availability; some restrictions may apply. The Choral Festival 2012 will include offering over 45 specialized workshops covering virtually every aspect of church ...

Attend National Black Arts Festival and Stay at Hampton Inn & Ste Atlanta Airport Hotel on North I-85

2012-07-04

The Hampton Inn & Suites Atlanta Airport Hotel (North, I-85) offers nearby lodging to guests attending the National Black Arts Festival (NBAF ), a celebration of the art, music, and culture of people of African descent. The summer festival takes place July 6-15, 2012, with a few exhibits running longer. The main weekend of the festival is July 12-15, with events taking place at Centennial Olympic Park and other venues in Atlanta, GA. NBAF 2012 events include: - "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", performance (July 10 - 29) - Coretta Scott King Awards Book ...

National Trust Heritage Gardens Benefit From Major New Plant Conservation Centre

2012-07-04

Rare plants from National Trust gardens across the country will be propagated at a new Plant Conservation Centre that will improve the way one of the most important plant collections in the UK is cared for. Opened by international plantsman Roy Lancaster, the new 2.5 acre facility at a secret East Devon location will bring together plant propagation facilities, plant collection management expertise and facilities for training National Trust staff on all aspects of caring for the important plants in the gardens they look after. The opening of the new facilities comes ...

British Airways and One Direction to Host High Flying Dinner Date

2012-07-04

British Airways has announced that One Direction, one of the world's biggest bands, is to host the ultimate high-flying dinner date on BA jet. The fab five, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik, will take to the skies to help raise funds for Comic Relief. The charter flight will be given the original flight number BA1D. They will be joined on the exclusive sky-high date by eight lucky fans who will have the chance to win tickets in a competition which has been launched on social media sites including the British Airways Facebook ...

$130k Raised for Variety's Culinary Night of Nights

2012-07-04

Amongst the stand out performances, was rising star, Melanie Dyer, who had impressed Joel Madden with her encore performance during The Voice's blind auditions. Melanie was amongst celebrities, radio star Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli, past and present MasterChef contestants Alvin Quah, Audra Morrice and Kylie Millar as well as personalities, Steve Willis, 'Commando' from The Biggest Loser, Karen Ledbury, Lizzy Lovett, Glenn Wheeler, who all frocked up for a night of culinary indulgence. The event raised an enormous $130k NET for Variety - the Children's Charity. Guests ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Floating solar panels show promise, but environmental impacts vary by location, study finds

Molecule that could cause COVID clotting key to new treatments

Root canal treatment reduces heart disease and diabetes risk

The gold standard: Researchers end 20-year spin debate on gold surface with definitive, full-map quantum imaging

ECMWF and European Partners win prestigious HPCwire Award for "Best Use Of AI Methods for Augmenting HPC Applications” – for AI innovation in weather and climate