JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The family of a woman who died after heart surgery is challenging Missouri law capping how much her family can receive in damages.

A lawyer for Shannon Dodson’s family argued Wednesday to the state Supreme Court that such limits are unconstitutional.

The 34-year-old died in 2011 after a St. Louis-area doctor performed a heart test that led to complications and required emergency surgery. A jury awarded the family $9 million in noneconomic damages.

A trial court reduced the noneconomic damages to $350,000 based on state law.

Dodson attorney Patrick Hagerty says that infringes on the right to a jury trial and cited a 2012 Supreme Court decision that struck down limits for noneconomic damages.

The doctor’s attorney, Paul Venker, says the ruling doesn’t apply in wrongful death cases.