SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - A Missouri health provider will have to pay tens of millions of dollars to a former patient with a rare disease after the state’s Supreme Court rejected the hospital’s appeal.
The Springfield News-Leader reports that the high court ruled Tuesday that Mercy Clinic Springfield Communities owes Emilee Williams nearly $29 million.
Williams argued in a 2015 lawsuit that the hospital failed to diagnose her in a timely manner, making her reliant on a feeding tube. Williams has Wilson’s disease, which causes copper to accumulate in vital organs.
Mercy appealed for a new trial after a Greene County jury sided with Williams in 2017. Williams challenged how the money would be paid to her.
The high court ruled that it would be unconstitutional for Mercy to pay some medical damages over time at a different rate.
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