On July 22, 2021, the Missouri Supreme Court issued its opinion in the matter of Ordinalo Velazquez v. University Physician Associates, et al. In a victory for health care providers, the Missouri Supreme Court rejected a constitutional challenge to non-economic damages caps in actions based on the provision of medical services.
The plaintiff had filed a lawsuit on a theory of medical negligence and argued that the damages caps violated article I, § 22(a) of the Missouri Constitution, which protects the right to a jury trial on claims that existed at common law when the current state constitution was ratified. In the past, plaintiffs’ attorneys successfully invoked this provision to strike down damages caps in cases where the claim existed at common law. However, the General Assembly adopted legislation in 2015 that abolished the common law cause of action for medical negligence, replacing it with a statutory claim. Because the cause of action now exists purely as a creature of statute, the Court held that the statutory cap on non-economic damages is constitutional.
In addition, the Court clarified that the applicable non-economic damages cap must be calculated at the time of trial, and not at the time of the injury. Because the caps increase every year, this means the cap will be higher by trial; however, it will prevent plaintiffs from arguing the caps should not apply where the injury occurred before the caps came into effect.
The caps on non-economic damages are established by statute as follows:
| Year | Non-Catastrophic Injury | Catastrophic Injury |
| 2021 | $442,574 | $774,504 |
| 2022 | $450,098 | $787,671 |
| 2023 | $457,749 | $801,061 |
| 2024 | $465,531 | $814,679 |
| 2025 | $473,445 | $828,529 |
| 2026 | $481,494 | $842,614 |
| 2027 | $489,679 | $856,938 |
| 2028 | $498,003 | $871,506 |
| 2029 | $506,470 | $886,322 |
| 2030 | $515,080 | $901,389 |
| 2031 | $523,836 | $916,713 |
| 2032 | $532,741 | $932,297 |
| 2033 | $541,798 | $948,146 |
| 2034 | $551,008 | $964,264 |
| 2035 | $560,375 | $980,657 |
| 2036 | $569,902 | $997,328 |
| 2037 | $579,590 | $1,014,283 |
| 2038 | $589,443 | $1,031,525 |
| 2039 | $599,464 | $1,049,061 |
| 2040 | $609,655 | $1,066,895 |
| 2041 | $620,019 | $1,085,033 |
| 2042 | $630,559 | $1,103,478 |
| 2043 | $641,278 | $1,122,237 |
| 2044 | $652,180 | $1,141,315 |
| 2045 | $663,267 | $1,160,718 |
| 2046 | $674,543 | $1,180,450 |
| 2047 | $686,010 | $1,200,926 |
| 2048 | $697,672 | $1,220,926 |
| 2049 | $709,533 | $1,241,682 |
| 2050 | $721,595 | $1,262,791 |
This blog post was drafted by Jake Kohut, an attorney in the Cape Girardeau and St. Louis, Missouri offices of Spencer Fane. For more information please visit www.spencerfane.com.