Missouri Lawmakers Will Try to Limit Medical Lawsuits

Missouri lawmakers plan to try again to limit how much money people can receive in medical malpractice lawsuits.

Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones says the liability limits are a priority for the 2014 session. And Rep. Eric Burlison, of Springfield, already is promoting a bill.

Republican lawmakers want to reinstate a $350,000 limit on noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering that was struck down by the Missouri Supreme Court in July 2012.

The court said the limit violated a common-law right to seek damages for medical malpractice that predated the adoption of a state constitution in 1820.

The proposed legislation would abolish that common-law right and instead make medical liability lawsuits subject to state law.

A similar bill stalled earlier this year in the Senate.