Missouri lawmakers have had their eyes on reinstating liability limits for medical malpractice cases ever since the state Supreme Court struck down an existing cap on damages in the summer of 2012. That ruling came in a case involving a baby that was born with severe brain injuries as a result of medical negligence. The state Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that the $350,000 cap on non-economic damages in jury awards violated the right to trial by jury.
Although the Missouri Supreme Court did the right thing, tort reformers pushed back. On May 7, 2015, Governor Jay Nixon signed Senate Bill 239 into law and reinstated damage caps for medical malpractice cases. The new laws places a cap in medical malpractice lawsuits of $400,000 for non-economic damages and $700,000 for a catastrophic injury – death, paralysis, loss of 2 or more limbs, brain injuries involving permanent cognitive impairment, irreversible major organ failure, or severe vision loss. It also includes a clause to increase the limits by 1.7 percent each year.
In any personal injury or wrongful death case, reducing damages is a bad idea. By placing limits on amounts that wrongdoers are required to pay, state legislatures remove incentives for corporations to put safety over profits. They also disable juries from being able to properly compensate and, in some circumstances, punish the perpetrators. If a negligent corporation causes $10 million worth of damage but is only legally required to pay $400,000, what prevents them from making business decisions about safety? If the cost of correcting a dangerous condition is substantially higher than the risk of damages in litigation, what does the negligent company do? When your “best day in court” results in a paltry $400,000 against millions and billions in profits, and you have the financial power to make plaintiff endure years of litigation, Missouri and other states like it are creating a chilling effect on litigation. In a real sense, they are penalizing the injured party for having the audacity to sue a serial wrongdoer.
Damage caps are an attempt to curry favor with corporate donors and grant them limited immunity from negligence. Caps allow negligent doctors to keep practicing medicine, defective products to stay on the market; they limit accountability to the American people. Our civil justice system is designed, in part, to provide redress for injuries caused by wrongdoers; when it fails to do so, the system is broken.
The right to trial by a jury is a fundamental constitutional right. Any attempt to take power away from a jury is an attempt to take power away from citizens. Why isn’t the 7th Amendment as important to these legislators as the 2nd? Why should the medical profession be granted limited immunity from negligence?
When tort reform bails out irresponsible corporations, doctors and hospitals, it closes the courthouse doors to victims, undermines our constitutional protections, and leaves taxpayers holding the bill. Taxpayers should not be forced to give up fundamental rights; they should not be forced to bail out negligent corporations, doctors and hospitals. The focus should be on improving safety not on undercompensating the victims of breaches of safety. Want to reduce lawsuits and compensation? Fix the safety problems and get rid of the serial perpetrators rather than restricting the recoveries and court access to victims.
Mark Bello is the CEO and General Counsel of Lawsuit Financial Corporation, a pro-justice lawsuit funding company.
