After several years of debate, the Missouri State Senate on March 11, 2015, voted to increase the non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. In a bipartisan compromise, State Senators agreed to statutory language to reinstate medical malpractice caps. The caps proposed by the Senate would be $400,000 in most cases. In catastrophic injury cases (defined as paralysis, brain injury or loss of vision), the cap escalates to $700,000. The proposed bill also increases the current existing $350,000 cap on non-economic damages in wrongful death cases to $700,000. All caps would increase each year by 1.7%. The Senate proposes circumventing the Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling in Watts v Cox Medical Centers by invalidating the common law medical malpractice cause of action and then, in turn, passing a statutory cause of action in its place.
The House and the Senate must now reconcile competing versions of the bill before final approval and submission to Governor Nixon.
