When a patient is injured by a doctor who messed something up, a medical malpractice claim can provide the patient the help they need to deal with the problem. However, the process of resolving a medical malpractice lawsuit can be very difficult.
Kansas and Missouri have medical malpractice laws in place to provide resolutions for both the doctors and the patients. Kansas law is different from Missouri law regarding caps. Currently, Kansas puts a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages. In other words, despite the Constitution stating that a jury shall decide the issue, Kansas has imposed caps limiting the jury's ability and limiting the damages a person injured can recover. Those caps are for all injury claims, and not just medical malpractice claims. It should be noted, there are some states which are even worse as they have caps for other damages, and not just non-economic damages. This has led to incredible manifest injustice, leaving injured patients as wards of the state due to their injuries caused by a doctor's negligence.
Medical malpractice claims have significantly declined over the years. While the medical field may rejoice over this, it also means that injured people are simply not being helped. In the last twenty years, medical malpractice claims have plummeted by 57 percent. This is in part due to the caps. Personal injury lawyers are simply unwilling to take legitimate claims, due to the caps making it cost prohibitive. While tort reform might sound good to those who don't fully think it through, it is preventing many people from getting the attorney they need and receiving the help they need.