Many Missouri lawmakers have introduced a number of bills that will effectively put more obstacles in the way of Missourians trying to sue for medical malpractice. These bills will also impact the “amount of damages a plaintiff may pursue and who could be held liable.” Unfortunately for patients and Missourians across the state, the first bill on the big batch of bills working their way through the Missouri General Assembly already passed the House 101-50 last Thursday and will proceed to the Senate for a vote.
A lot is changing in Missouri these days. One of those, unfortunately, is legislation that will dramatically change the legal climate, including who patients can sue for medical malpractice. In previous years the process of filing a medical malpractice claim was pretty cut and dry. However, many Missouri lawmakers have introduced a number of bills that will effectively put more obstacles in the way of Missourians trying to sue for medical malpractice. These bills will also impact the “amount of damages a plaintiff may pursue and who could be held liable.” Unfortunately for patients and Missourians across the state, the first bill on the big batch of bills working their way through the Missouri General Assembly already passed the House 101-50 last Thursday and will proceed to the Senate for a vote.
But why exactly was this bill introduced in the first place, and what exactly will this particular bill do if it’s made law? For starters, the idea behind this particular bill stems from a case that happened back in 2014 when an appeals court sided in favor of “two children trying to sue Missouri Baptist Medical Center after a radiologist failed to detect that their mother had colon cancer,” which later claimed the mother’s life. If made into law, patients will only be able to “sue hospitals if the physician accused of wrongdoing is an employee.” This means that any doctor just visiting a hospital to help with a surgery or what have you cannot be sued. According to the bill, “hospitals couldn’t be sued because of doctors who only have admitting privileges.”
Understandably, there is a lot of support and opposition to such a bill that will impact so many lives. On one side, supporters of the legislation claim the legal climate in Missouri, specifically St. Louis, inflates insurance costs and deters businesses from coming to the state. Other supporters of the legislation, like Republican Rep. Kevin Austin, have said, “it’s unfair to sue hospitals for malpractice by a doctor who only performs some work there.”
But reasoning like this isn’t good enough for patient advocate groups and patients alike, who argue that bills like the one recently passed in the Missouri House will make it more difficult for innocent patients to recoup damages in cases of medical malpractice. In fact, many argue that legislation like this demonstrates a complete lack of compassion and care for patients who may end up with lifetime scars from botched procedures. Making it more difficult for patients to get the justice they deserve isn’t the right direction for any hospital to go.
Sources:
Missouri lawmakers call for restrictions in lawsuits
Missouri House approves bill to limit medical malpractice suits
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