One of the leaders of the effort to pass limitations on malpractice cases in 2005 says the Supreme Court overturning those limits is a disappointment.

Missouri Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder

Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder says the Court’s decision will cause doctors to leave the state. “[The justices] have made it more expensive for physicians and surgeons to locate in Missouri with liability insurance protection, medical malpractice protection. They have made it more difficult for Missouri practitioners to recruit other excellent physicians and surgeons to come to our state. They have driven up costs for every healthcare practitioner who has to buy medical malpractice insurance.”

Kinder says the decision will make it harder for pregnant women to find an obstetricians/gynecologist in the state. “I know that there were cases where small towns … a small town such as Moberly or Macon or Lebanon … would be left entirely without a OBGYN practitioner because they can’t afford the malpractice rates. We’re headed back to that regrettable situation all over again.”

He adds, “It applies to surgical specialities and subspecialties such as neurosurgery. We got down to a point before this was passed where there were only four neurosurgeons in all of Kansas City, Missouri.”

Kinder says the limits must be put back in place. “These caps have worked in other states. They have worked well in Missouri for the seven years they have been in our law, and we’re going to have to go to work and get this back in our law now that the Supreme Court has caved in to the trial lawyers and undone them.”

Kinder also says the issue must be a part of the Governor’s race. “Governor Nixon has to declare where he is. Is he with Missouri’s healthcare practitioners and a great majority of our populace, or is he with the trial lawyers who bankroll his campaigns?”