Personal Injury Law

Missouri Supreme Court Hearing Arguements about Missouri Medical Malpractice and Tort "Reform" Laws

By Benjamin J. Sansone, Esq.

Ann Spradling, et al. v. SSM Health Care St. Louis, SC90613, has challenged the Missouri medical malpractice provision that requires a plaintiff to a file written opinion from a doctor ?practicing substantially the same specialty? as the defendant doctor. This means until a doctor has reviewed all the records and signed an affidavit saying there was negligence, you cannot file a lawsuit because it will be dismissed. Doctors are the only class of defendants who get this special treatment. As a Missouri medical malpractice personal injury lawyer I personally do not mind the provision requiring a certificate of merit. However, the requirement that the expert is from the same specialty puts an extra burden, as many doctors are qualified to give opinions even though they are not denoted as a specialist in a certain area. The Plaintiff in the Spradling case is claiming that the higher standard to claim Missouri medical malpractice hampers her right to a jury trial.

The second case, Edith C. Deck v. Delmar Teasley, SC90628, deals with an issue we have discussed in this Missouri injury law blog before regarding the amount of medical bills admissible as damages at trial; the amount billed by health care providers or the reduced amount an insurer pays to satisfy the bill. Again, this is a constitutional argument of a right to a trial by jury.

Full post as published by Missouri Injury Law Blog on April 15, 2010 (boomark / email).