Missouri Senate backs bill to reduce large lawsuit awards
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Missouri Senate has approved legislation aimed at sharply limiting the large legal awards coming out of the St. Louis court system in cases where multiple plaintiffs combine similar lawsuits.
Republicans have tried for years to outlaw awards like one in February in which 22 women were awarded $4.7 billion after claiming that Johnson & Johnson baby powder caused their ovarian cancer. Many of the plaintiffs were not from Missouri.
The attempt to change the law was helped this year when the Missouri Supreme Court halted the practice after the Johnson & Johnson verdict was reached, said Sen. Ed Emery, R-Lamar, who led the GOP effort.
Under the proposed change, an incident must have occurred in the same county or the parties in the lawsuit must live in the same county, The St. Louis-Post Dispatch reported. The Senate approved the bill Monday on a 24-7 vote. It now goes to the House.
Read more: http://www.newstribune.com/news/missouri/story/2019/mar/05/senate-approves-bill-reduce-high-dollar-legal-awards/768470/