Mo. House Speaker Tim Jones wants medical malpractice suit limits reinstated

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones said Wednesday that caps for damages in medical malpractice cases need to be reinstated to protect the health-care system.

An upper limit of $350,000 for noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering was a significant piece of Missouri Republicans' efforts in 2005 to curb liability lawsuits. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled in July 2012 that it violated a right to a jury trial that had been embedded in Missouri's first constitution in 1820.

Jones said the lack of any cap puts Missouri at a disadvantage in competing for medical workers while encouraging costs to increase and quality to decline.

"Unless we take action this year to fix this problem, we'll see millions of dollars in the health care industry diverted away from care," said Jones, R-Eureka. "It will be diverted away from access to care, it will be diverted away from health care investment. It will be diverted away from our patients, from health care education, from creating more health care jobs and instead those dollars will be needed for legal defense costs."

Legislation last year seeking to reinstate the damages caps passed the House but not the Senate. The proposal has been filed again, but Jones said Thursday he has not settled on a particular approach for this year. A Senate committee scheduled a hearing Tuesday on a proposal in that chamber.

Opponents argue caps would give medical facilities preferential treatment over their patients and other professions.

Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys President Steve Garner said all should be held accountable for their conduct and errors and that the right to a jury trial needs to be protected.

"They are good enough to try criminal cases and determine whether somebody goes to jail or somebody dies, but we don't trust them to assess monetary penalties or monetary awards against doctors?" Garner said. "That doesn't make sense."