Missouri lawmakers move to shield nursing homes, medical workers from lawsuits

Missouri lawmakers voted Tuesday to shield nursing homes, health care companies and their workers from being sued for actions taken while Missouri is under a state of emergency during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The measure was added by state Rep. Dan Houx, a Warrensburg Republican, on to a Senate bill that would limit a company’s liability when donating food that is shelf-stable — or can be stored at room temperature — like deer jerky.

Houx said the Missouri Hospital Association approached him about the legislation.

He noted that there has been a movement nationwide to protect health care workers from legal liability.

“They are trying to do what they’ve sworn a creed to do to their best of their ability for the situation they are in,” Houx said.

The measure was “a proactive, emergency-based request for protection,” according to MHA spokesperson Dave Dillon.

“There has not yet been litigation, which often takes some time to be filed,” Dillon said in an email. “However, we have not reached crisis level care or exceed the capacity of the health care system.”

Dillon said that while Missouri has seen progress, it does not know when or whether it will see a surge that would result in crisis level care.

“Under that level, we could see shortages of staff, supplies and space, and caregivers could be called upon to make difficult medical and resource allocation decisions,” Dillon said.

However, the limits of the bill are unclear. While the bill sponsor, Rep. David Evans, said his intent is for legal immunity to apply only to those who care for or service COVID-19 patients, he admitted the legislation does not explicitly state that.

The Missouri Trial Attorneys Association, whose members frequently represent the plaintiffs in medical negligence cases, said the law protects all medical negligence regardless of cause as long as Missouri was under a state of emergency.

Gov. Mike Parson declared a state of emergency March 13 and extended through June 15.

“This language would provide complete immunity to the nursing homes and long-term care facilities in which massive outbreaks of COVID-19 have led to a substantial number of the COVID-19 deaths in Missouri,” Brett Emison, MATA president, said in an email.

Nursing homes have been hotspots for deadly outbreaks of the novel coronavirus around in the country. As the death toll has climbed, the nursing home industry has sought legislation in states to protect it from being sued.

According to information The Star has obtained, at least 30 long-term care facilities in the Kansas City area have reported COVID-19 cases. In Platte County, at least 36 residents outside Kansas City limits have tested positive for COVID-19, and no deaths have been reported.

Dillon said MHA has communicated with the “nursing home community” as the legislation progressed but was unsure of which organization had specifically asked for nursing homes to be included.

“This legislation ensures that front-line health care providers are not held to the same standard of care that would apply during normal operations, absent a surge that requires moving to crisis standards of care,” Dillon said in an email.

MATA proposed language that would protect only front-line medical workers from liability but did not hear a response from lawmakers, according to Emison.

“We cannot use the COVID-19 crisis as an excuse to trample on the constitutional rights of Missourians,” Emison said.

No one in the Missouri House questioned the specific measure before voting to pass the overlying bill, which was amended to include measures about feral hogs, marriage licenses and the addition of sport referees to the category of special victim if assaulted.

Evans said it was important to protect front-line workers from legal liability, more so than the organizations they work for.

“That’s more important to me than the facility itself (be protected),” Evans said. “The facility isn’t putting its life -- it’s putting its future, but not it’s life -- on the line.”

Because of the changes made to the bill in the Missouri House, the Missouri Senate has to vote at least one more time to pass the legislation before it can reach the governor’s desk.

Gov. Mike Parson seemed opened to the idea of offering immunity to health care-related organizations when asked if nursing homes should be shielded from legal liability.

“The last thing we want is good people getting sued because they were trying to save people’s lives in unusual circumstances,” Parson said during a press briefing Monday. “I think we’re really going to have to take a good look at that.”