Missouri reinstitutes caps on medical malpractice suits

Gov. Jay Nixon on Thursday signed into law a bill that reinstates limits on monetary damages in medical malpractice suits in the state.

Commonly known as tort reform, the legislation institutes caps of $400,000 on damages for personal injury and $700,000 for catastrophic injury in medical malpractice suits. Those limits increase by 1.7 percent each year.

Without such limits, insurance companies can charge doctors a variety of premiums to insure their practices, which Nixon said led to uncertainty.

The Missouri Supreme Court overturned medical malpractice limits three years ago. They had been $350,000 since 2005.

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