Injustice Averted This Time
A Missouri jury awarded $6 million to the parents of a baby who died because a hospital failed to diagnose a deadly bacterial infection. The lawsuit was filed before tort reforms were enacted.

December 05, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Injustice Averted ? This Time

Article provided by Dempsey & Kingsland, P.C.
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In August, a jury in St. Louis, Missouri, awarded $6 million to the parents of a 6-month-old baby who died because a hospital failed to diagnose a deadly bacterial infection.

Because the case was filed before Missouri's 2005 tort reform put into place a cap on non-economic damages, Dewayne and Suzanne Blankenship will receive compensation from the negligent parties responsible for the tremendous grief they experienced after the death of their son, Dylan.

In this case, injustice was averted. But if the lawsuit had been filed after the tort reforms were enacted, the jury would have been able to award at most, $350,000 for the Blankenship?s pain and suffering, which are likely to last a lifetime.

Insurance companies and lobbyists for doctors and hospitals successfully convinced the Missouri legislature that tort reform would prevent frivolous lawsuits. And while their interests are now well protected by Missouri law, the rights of average Missourians have been compromised.

According to Robert Kingsland, Kansas City, Missouri, attorney, "Because of the substantial time and money that medical negligence cases require, the current noneconomic damages cap prevents many families from holding negligent health care providers accountable. Many cases involving the deaths of young children and seniors are economically unfeasible under the current cap."

Proponents of tort reform promised drops in both medical costs and insurance premiums in exchange for the right to receive due compensation for harms caused by negligent medical care providers. Several years later, however, Missouri has yet to realize these promised cost reductions.

As the national debate over health care reform wears on, some continue to present tort reform as one of the best ways to rein in medical costs. These arguments however ignore recent studies proving that awards in medical malpractice litigation amount to about two percent of health care costs, while health insurance premiums make up about half of those costs.

With a careful examination of the facts, it becomes increasingly difficult to accept more proposed limitations on our rights to protect ourselves.

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