Tort Reform in Missouri
Missouri, for instance, has a non-economic damages cap in medical malpractice cases of $400,000 (which is periodically adjusted for inflation) and $700,000 (subject to similar adjustments) for “catastrophic” or wrongful death cases. These cap the amount an injury victim or their family in a wrongful death case can receive for pain and suffering even if a jury awards a plaintiff tens of millions of dollars. The jury is not told about the cap during trial. In 2020, the cap for non-catastrophic injuries for medical malpractice is $435,176 and for catastrophic injuries are $761,558 in Missouri. Simply put, the goals of proponents of tort reform want to: make it more difficult to file a lawsuit; make it more difficult to get to a jury trial; and place limits on the amounts of money people can recover in lawsuits. Tort reform benefits large corporations and insurance companies rather than individuals hurt by the negligence of another person.
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