Medical malpractice is a serious issue that has adverse effects on patients and their families, causing physical, emotional, and financial damages. Patients trust medical professionals to provide them with quality care without errors or negligence. However, when errors or negligence occur, leading to injuries or death, patients have the right to seek compensation for the damages caused. On the other hand, healthcare providers may face malpractice suits and have to pay damages.
Missouri laws regulate medical malpractice cases, including limiting the damages patients can receive in medical malpractice suits. In this article, we explore whether Missouri has a cap on damages for medical malpractice cases.
Table of Contents
Understanding Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice is a legal term used to describe injuries caused by a medical professional’s negligence, incompetence, or omission that deviates from a standard of care. Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor, nurse, or healthcare facility fails to provide safe and competent care, resulting in harm to a patient.
Examples of medical malpractice include misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, medication errors, surgical errors, birth injuries, anesthetic errors, and neglect or abuse in nursing homes. Medical malpractice cases are complex and require the input of an experienced attorney to navigate the legal system and obtain fair compensation for the damages.
Damages in Medical Malpractice Cases
When medical malpractice occurs, patients and their families may suffer significant damages, including physical pain and suffering, emotional trauma, loss of income, and medical expenses. Therefore, patients have the right to seek compensation for the damages caused by the medical professionals’ negligence or errors.
Compensatory damages in medical malpractice cases refer to the compensation awarded to patients to cover losses incurred as a result of the medical malpractice. These damages can be categorized into economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages include expenses incurred as a result of the malpractice, such as medical bills, loss of income, and financial losses due to disability. Non-economic damages, on the other hand, include pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium, which is the loss of the ability to enjoy the benefits of a family relationship.
Missouri’s Cap on Damages
Missouri is one of the states that limit compensatory damages in medical malpractice cases. Under Missouri law, there is a statutory cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. This means that patients cannot be awarded more than a certain amount of money for non-economic damages, regardless of the total amount of the damages incurred.
The Missouri law that limits cap on non-economic damages was introduced in 2005 as part of the Medical Malpractice Improvement Act. According to the Act, non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases are capped at $400,000 for most cases. However, in catastrophic cases, where the patient is severely injured or disabled, the non-economic damages cap increases to $700,000.
The Act defines catastrophic injury as loss of both or either of the following:
- Life;
- A limb;
- Vision in both or either eyes;
- The capacity to hear loss in both ears; and
- Mobility through paralysis.
Exceptions to the Cap
There are certain exceptions to Missouri’s cap on damages in medical malpractice cases. For instance, if a patient suffers multiple malpractice events that lead to separate injuries, each injury may qualify for the non-economic damages cap, leading to a higher amount of compensation.
Moreover, the non-economic damages cap does not apply to economic damages, which means patients can receive unlimited compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and other expenses related to the malpractice. Additionally, if the court determines that malpractice occurred as a result of intentional injury or gross negligence, the non-economic damages cap does not apply.
Conclusion
Missouri’s cap on damages in medical malpractice cases limits the amount of compensation patients can receive for non-economic damages. This means that even if a patient incurs significant pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life, their compensation may be limited to $400,000 or $700,000 in catastrophic cases.
Therefore, it is important for patients and their families to seek legal representation from experienced attorneys who understand Missouri’s medical malpractice laws. An attorney can help navigate the legal system, gather evidence of fault, and build a strong case to obtain fair compensation for the damages caused by medical malpractice.