In 2016, the plaintiff had surgery on her lower back. That night, her daughter found her unconscious on the floor of her bathroom. The plaintiff was transported by ambulance to the emergency room, where she complained of severe abdominal pain. As her condition continued to worsen, she was sent to the ICU and was diagnosed with possible mesenteric ischemia, which required immedaite surgery to save as much of her bowel as possible.
According to the Missouri medical malpractice lawsuit, the woman’s treating physician at the hospital delayed the necessary surgery, despite medical evidence that her serious bowel condition was worsening. She was not brought to surgery until her blood pressure suddenly dropped after she had spent approximately 30 hours in the emergency room. Her surgeon found that almost six feet of her bowel was dead and had to be removed. Her over one month inpatient hospital stay was complicated by several near-death episodes. As a result of the loss of a significant portion of her bowel, the woman is unable to absorb nutrition from food and therefore requires total parenteral nutrition (TPN) for the rest of her life.
The defense argued that the woman’s short-gut syndrome was not due to her medical care but instead was due to an underlying disease that could not have been fixed surgically, and that the surgeons had to wait to see if her bowel would or would not survive before they operated. The defense attorney stated after the verdict, “Ultimately, the healthcare providers actually saved her life.”
After a nine-day trial, on February 8, 2024, the Missouri medical malpractice jury awarded the woman $736,808.63 for past economic and medical damages, $500,000 for past noneconomic damages, $6,500,000 for future medical damages, and $500,000 for future noneconomic damages. The total of $1 million in noneconomic damages will likely be reduced due to Missouri’s cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases.
Missouri Cap On Noneconomic Damages In Medical Malpractice Cases
Senate Bill 239, signed into law in 2015, establishes caps on the amount of non-economic damages recoverable by a plaintiff in a medical malpractice action. For “non-catastrophic” injuries, the cap was initially established at $400,000, while the cap for “catastrophic” injuries was set at $700,000. Section 538.205 RSMo. defines a catastrophic injury as an injury resulting in quadriplegia, paraplegia, the loss of two or more limbs, significant and permanent cognitive impairment, irreversible failure of a major organ, or significant loss of vision. Section 538.210.8 provides for an annual increase in these caps by a constant rate of 1.7 percent.
If you or a loved one may have been injured due to medical negligence in Missouri or in another U.S. state, you should promptly consult with a Missouri medical malpractice attorney (or a medical malpractice attorney in your state) who may investigate your possible malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a medical negligence case, if appropriate.
Visit our website to be connected with Missouri medical malpractice lawyers, or medical malpractice lawyers in your state, who may assist you with your malpractice claim, or call us toll free at 800-295-3959.
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