Senate closer to vote on limiting injury, malpractice lawsuits

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Senate inched closer to a vote Thursday on legislation to limit jury awards in medical malpractice cases and impose new restrictions on all personal injury lawsuits.

Supporters touted the legislation as a way to rein in rising medical malpractice insurance premiums, which doctors have said are edging them out of business.

"There is a crisis in health care in Missouri and that crisis is being driven by the costs of medical malpractice," said Sen. Delbert Scott, R-Lowry City, the bill's sponsor. "It is impossible to ignore that litigation is at the core of this problem."

Clamping down on personal injury lawsuits also could improve the state's business climate, which has been stung by one of the highest job-loss rates in the nation during the recent economic recession, supporters said.

Opponents have countered that new limits on tort lawsuits only would hurt the victims of medical mistakes and other accidents.

"You may call it tort reform. Well, what have we reformed -- that the injured party gets less?" said Sen. Ken Jacob, D-Columbia, a lawyer.

Critics of the legislation delayed a vote through prolonged debate Wednesday, and senators spent much of Thursday voting on amendments that removed various lawsuit-limiting provisions from the bill.

As the Missouri Senate debated, the U.S. House voted to limit jury awards in malpractice lawsuits in response to physicians' complaints about their skyrocketing insurance premiums.

It was unclear how the differing federal and state proposals would interact if both became law.

Capping damages

The federal legislation would cap "noneconomic" damages, such as those for pain and suffering, at $250,000 in medical malpractice cases.

A 1986 Missouri law limited non-economic damages to $350,000 for each malpractice "occurrence." Because of an annual adjustment for inflation, that cap now has risen to $557,000. But lawmakers say a recent state court decision effectively negated the cap by allowing awards for multiple "occurrences" that contribute to a person's injury.

The legislation effectively would reverse that court ruling.

The Senate bill also would once again lower the cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases to $350,000, with the annual inflation adjustment to start anew next year.

A separate bill passed last month by the Missouri House would set that cap at a flat $350,000, without an annual inflationary adjustment.

None of the bills pending in the Missouri Legislature or U.S. Congress would limit economic damages -- intended to cover out-of-pocket costs such as lost wages, medical bills or funeral expenses.

The federal legislation also would limit punitive damages -- intended to punish a physician for serious mistakes -- at twice the amount of economic damages awarded or $250,000, whichever is greater.

A similar provision was stripped from the Missouri Senate legislation.

State senators also removed a proposed $350,000 cap on non-economic damages in other personal injury cases besides medical malpractice. Missouri currently has no cap for such awards.

Senators who stripped the proposed limits cited the examples of a stay-at-home mother or a child -- neither of whom would have significant economic losses because they do not work. Yet they have great value to their families, which only could be compensated by noneconomic or punitive damages, the senators said.

The legislation includes several provisions that would affect all personal injury lawsuits. One provision seeks to limit the ability of plaintiffs to file cases in supposedly jury-friendly jurisdictions that have little connection to the defendants.

Another provision addresses cases where multiple defendants are assessed differing amounts of the fault. Under current law, if one defendant cannot pay his portion of the damages, another defendant can end up paying the full bill.

The Senate legislation would prevent some wealthy defendants with slight blame from having to pick up the tab for a poorer defendant bearing most of the blame.

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Lawsuit bill is SB280.

On the Net:

Missouri Legislature: http://www.moga.state.mo.us