Post Date: October 29th, 2010
Missouri Personal injury attorneys have been watching the Missouri
Supreme Court to see if the judges will eliminate sections of the 2005 tort law
amendments regarding personal injury cases. On Wednesday, the Missouri Supreme
Court listened to arguments about what medical bills in a personal injury case
could be presented to a jury in order to calculate the total damages. Many
attorneys argue that the laws that say what evidence can be presented are
unconstitutional because it is difficult to assess the value of medical
treatment.
According to the 2005 statutory amendments, judges
have to decide whether to submit the bills that have been paid or the bills
that have been charged, which has many attorneys and judges confused. A person
who has a personal injury case could lose thousands of dollars depending on
which set of bills the jury sees at trial. A 2005 personal injury case, Deck
vs. Teasley, sparked the concern when the judge awarded $9,904 for the amount
that Medicare paid to settle the medical bills, but the total amount billed to
Deck was $27,991. Unfortunately, the value of the medical treatment the
plaintiff received was neither of those figures.
The plaintiff’s attorney invited the Missouri Supreme Court
to look into the case to see if the statute was unconstitutional with the
belief that the statute robs the plaintiff of their right to have a jury decide
the amount of damages. Many attorneys have argued the unconstitutionality of
the medical bill statute with many different reasons.
An amendment to the medical bill statute will change the way
personal injury cases are tried in the future. Once the Missouri Supreme Court
issues their opinion on whether or not the statues are unconstitutional, the
law will become clearer for personal injury attorneys to fight for their
clients. Personal injury cases have their obstacles, which is why it is
essential for individuals or their families to hire an attorney to take them
through the process.
Joshua P. Myers is the owner and President of Myers Injury
Law, LLC and a founding partner of Schultz & Myers, LLC. Based in St.
Louis, Missouri, his personal injury law firm routinely handles motor vehicle
accidents, truck accidents, and product liability cases that result in personal
injury or death throughout the Midwest. If you have been hurt or have lost
a loved one due to the negligence of another, please contact a personal injury
attorney to learn your rights. It is always free to discuss your case and
there are never any attorney’s fees until we recover on your behalf.
Tags: deck, josh, joshua, medical bills, missouri, myers, myers injury law, personal injury lawyer, supreme court, teasley
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