JEFFERSON CITY (AP) — Missouri lawmakers plan to try again to limit how much money people can receive in medical malpractice lawsuits.
Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones said the liability limits are a priority for the 2014 session. And Rep. Eric Burlison of Springfield already is promoting a bill.
Republican lawmakers want to reinstate a $350,000 limit on noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering, which was struck down by the Missouri Supreme Court in July 2012.
The court said the limit violated a common-law right to seek damages for medical malpractice that predated the adoption of a state constitution in 1820.
The proposed legislation would abolish that common-law right and instead make medical liability lawsuits subject to state law.
A similar bill stalled earlier this year in the Senate.