The Missouri Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional a state law placing limits on so-called “non economic” damages in malpractice lawsuits.

The court ruled Tuesday on the appeal of a Greene County lawsuit involving a woman whose son was born with catastrophic brain injuries. She filed a medical malpractice suit against the medical center and her doctors for providing negligent health care services.

The jury awarded $1.45 million in non-economic damages. It also awarded $3.371 million in future medical damages reduced to a present value of more than $1.747 million. The trial court allowed the providers to pay half the future damages in a lump sum immediately and the other half over 50 years.

According to the ruling, statutory damage caps were not permissible when the constitution was adopted in 1820 and, therefore, remain impermissible today.

The high court held that the right to trial by jury cannot “remain inviolate” when an injured party is deprived of the jury’s role of determining damages according to the particular facts of the case.

Non-economic damages compensate injuries and losses that are not easily quantified by a dollar amount. Also known as quality-of-life damages, this compensation covers the family of victims who have died, or suffered severe injuries.

The court also threw out the arrangement for the defendants to pay out part of the judgment in installments without covering future increases in medical costs. The judges ordered the trial court to come up with a new payment plan.

The legal briefs, summaries of the briefs and oral argument audio file are available online here.