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Statute of Limitations

Action must be brought within two years from the date of the occurrence. However, if the claim involves a foreign object, the claimant is allowed two years from the date of discovering the alleged negligence, but in no case shall an action be brought more than ten years from the date of the alleged act

Comparative or contributory negligence

Pure comparative negligence

Nature of accused's liability

where fault is apportioned, the court will enter judgment against each liable party on the basis of the rules of joint and several liability

Law of contribution

joint defendants have a right to contribution

Expert testimony standards

The claimant must file with the court an affidavit stating that the claimant has obtained a legally qualified health care provider's opinion that the defendant failed to use reasonable care under the circumstances and that the failure to use reasonable care directly caused or contributed to the claimant's damages

Limits on compensation

capped to about $650,000 for non-economic damages.

Limits on attorney fees

none

Collateral Source rule enforced

Missouri adheres to the common law collateral source rule whereby a defendant is not entitled to a reduction in the claimant's damages by proving the claimant has received or will receive compensation for the loss from a source independent of the defendant

State and local health care providers immune from liabaility

All persons are barred from maintaining actions against the state and its political subdivisions by the doctrine of sovereign immunity, subject to certain exceptions. This immunity does not extend to state employees, including individual doctors and nurses.

Select Your State

Select Your State

Select Your State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington State West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Medical malpractice law varies from state to state, the key areas of difference are as follows

• Statute of limitations
• The law of comparative or contributory negligence
• The nature of the accused's liability
• Law of contribution
• Standards for expert testimony
• Limitations on compensation
• Limitiations on attorney fees
• Whether collateral source law is in effect
• Are state health care providers immune from liability