This page looks at Missouri medical malpractice lawsuits. Our malpractice lawyers focus on settlement amounts and jury payouts in these cases and look at the law governing medical malpractice lawsuits in Missouri.
Like all states, Missouri has its own unique set of laws regarding healthcare professionals’ liability and injured patients’ right to sue them for malpractice.
Anyone considering a medical malpractice case in Missouri needs to understand certain aspects of the applicable laws because they can have a big impact on whether you have the right to sue and how much your case could be worth.
The three Missouri laws that are most significant in malpractice cases are (1) the statute of limitations for malpractice claims, (2) the “certificate of merit” requirement, and (3) the rules on shared fault.
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Missouri Hospital Malpractice Verdicts and Settlements
Below are example settlement amounts and jury payouts in medical malpractice lawsuits in Missouri:
Missouri Medical Malpractice Statute of Limitations
RS Mo. § 516.105.1 sets a time limit, known as a statute of limitations, for medical malpractice and healthcare-related claims. This law says that medical malpractice claims in Missouri must be filed within two years from when the problem or mistake occurred or when the “cause of action accrues.” If the case is not filed before this deadline expires the plaintiff will be barred from filing a lawsuit.
Bizarrely, Missouri courts have consistently chosen not to implement a discovery rule exception to Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.105 in Missouri medical malpractice cases. Consequently, individuals who do not identify instances of medical malpractice within the existing exceptions before the expiration of the two-year statute of limitations are left without a viable legal remedy.
Thsi leaves some plaintiffs hurt by medical malpractice without an effective means of redress. Is this unfair? Of course. The Missouri Court of Appeals does not disagree but says it is the job of the legislature to effectuate a change in the law.
Still, there are some notable exceptions that can extend the Missouri 2-year statute of limitations period in medical malpractice cases:
- If the issue involves a foreign object negligently left inside a patient’s body, the lawsuit must be filed within two years from the date when the patient discovered or should have discovered this negligence.
- If the complaint relates to the healthcare provider’s failure to inform the patient about the results of medical tests, the lawsuit must be filed within two years from the date of discovering this failure or when the patient should have discovered it. But, this rule doesn’t apply to failures to inform about test results that occurred more than two years before August 28, 1999.
- If the person filing the lawsuit is a minor (under eighteen years old), they have until their twentieth birthday to bring such an action.
- The statute of limitations clock does not start running until a patient’s treatment by a physician or surgeon has ended, provided that the treatment is ongoing and of a nature that places a duty on the healthcare provider to continue care and treatment necessary for the patient’s recovery. This exception exists to prevent patients, who are already facing a relatively short statute of limitations imposed by law, from having to make an impossible choice between interrupting their treatment by initiating a lawsuit against their caregiver or forfeiting a valid legal claim.
- Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.230 grants plaintiffs the right to refile a lawsuit within one year after a nonsuit, as long as the original lawsuit was filed within the time limits set by Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 516.010 to 516.370. Specifically, this statute permits plaintiffs to restart a medical malpractice claim within one year if the initial claim was dismissed but had been filed within the appropriate timeframe.
However, regardless of these exceptions, no lawsuit can be initiated more than ten years after the date of the alleged malpractice or two years after a minor’s eighteenth birthday, whichever comes later. But this does extend the statute of limitations on the minor’s claim in birth injury lawsuits in Missouri.
A few other related laws to keep in mind:
- Section 516.230 allows someone who had to drop their case (a nonsuit) to start a new one within a year, as long as they initially filed it within the time limits in sections 516.010 to 516.370. This means you can re-file a dismissed medical malpractice case within a year of the dismissal if you originally filed it on time.
- Section 516.105.2 stipulates that if a plaintiff serves a defendant after the statute of limitations has expired, they must complete the service within 180 days from the date of filing the petition.
Expert Witness Requirements in Missouri Malpractice Cases
To make a claim of medical malpractice, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant failed to meet the required medical standard of care, that the defendant’s acts or omissions were performed negligently, and that these acts or omissions caused the plaintiff’s injuries.
In Missouri, as in every state, expert witnesses play a crucial role in meeting that burden in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Experts provide specialized knowledge and opinions regarding the standard of care, the defendant healthcare provider’s alleged breach of that standard, and whether this breach caused harm to the plaintiff.
Missouri’s Requirement for an Affidavit of Merit
In Missouri, before a medical malpractice lawsuit can proceed, the plaintiff is required to file an affidavit of merit, which serves as a preliminary screening of the case’s merit. This affidavit must be provided by a qualified healthcare provider who attests that there are reasonable grounds to believe that malpractice occurred.
So if you want to sue a doctor in Missouri, you or your malpractice lawyer must first get a written opinion from another healthcare provider. This opinion should say that the provider you want to sue didn’t give the right care, and this caused your injuries or the person’s death you’re suing for. The healthcare provider giving this opinion must be qualified, which means they have a license to practice medicine in this state or another state, and they should have experience in the same kind of healthcare as the one you want to sue.
You must file this written opinion with the court within 90 days after you start your lawsuit. If you need more time, you can ask the court for an extra 90 days.
Within 180 days after you start your lawsuit, any of the healthcare providers you’re suing can ask the court to review the written opinion privately. If the court thinks the opinion doesn’t follow the rules, they’ll have a hearing within 30 days to decide whether to allow you to continue your claim.
Missouri Cap on Non-Economic Damages
Missouri has a special law that imposes a maximum cap or limit on the amount of money that a plaintiff can be awarded in medical malpractice cases for non-economic damages (i.e., pain and suffering damages). RS Mo. § 538.210 The amount of the cap is currently around $455,000, but if the case involve “catastrophic personal injury” or death, the cap increases to around $790,000.
It is important to note that this cap only applies to pain and suffering damages. There is no cap on the amount of economic damages that a medical malpractice plaintiff can be awarded in Missouri. Economic damages include things like lost income and past and future medical expenses. The table below shows the current cap amounts by year for non-economic damages in Missouri malpractice cases:
YEAR |
Non-Catastrophic |
Catastrophic Cap |
2020 |
$435,176 |
$716,558 |
2021 |
$442,547 |
$774,504 |
2022 |
$450,098 |
$787,671 |
2023 |
$457,749 |
$801,061 |
2024 |
$465,531 |
$814,679 |
2025 |
$473,445 |
$828,529 |
Contact Us About Missouri Medical Malpractice
If you have a potential medical malpractice case in Missouri, call our attorneys today at 800-553-8082 for a free consultation on contact us online.