Text of MO SB 1190 (2026)

EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted and is intended to be omitted in the law. SECOND REGULAR SESSION SENATE BILL NO. 1190 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY INTRODUCED BY SENATOR CARTER. 5445S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary AN ACT To repeal section 516.105, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to actions against health care providers. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows: Section A. Section 516.105, RSMo, is repealed and two new 1 sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 2 516.105 and 538.212, to read as follows: 3 516.105. 1. All actions against physicians, 1 hospitals, dentists, registered or licensed practical 2 nurses, optometrists, podiatrists, pharmacists, 3 chiropractors, professional physical therapists, mental 4 health professionals licensed under chapter 337, and any 5 other entity providing health care services and all 6 employees of any of the foregoing acting in the course and 7 scope of their employment, for damages for malpractice, 8 negligence, error or mistake related to health care shall be 9 brought within two years from the date of occurrence of the 10 act of neglect complained of, except that: 11 (1) In cases in which the act of neglect complained of 12 is introducing and negligently permitting any foreign object 13 to remain within the body of a living person, the action 14 shall be brought within two years from the date of the 15 discovery of such alleged negligence, or from the date on 16 which the patient in the exercise of ordinary care should 17 SB 1190 2 have discovered such alleged negligence, whichever date 18 first occurs; [and] 19 (2) In cases in which the act of neglect complained of 20 is the negligent failure to inform the patient of the 21 results of medical tests, the action for failure to inform 22 shall be brought within two years from the date of the 23 discovery of such alleged negligent failure to inform, or 24 from the date on which the patient in the exercise of 25 ordinary care should have discovered such alleged negligent 26 failure to inform, whichever date first occurs; except that, 27 no such action shall be brought for any negligent failure to 28 inform about the results of medical tests performed more 29 than two years before August 28, 1999. For purposes of this 30 subdivision, the act of neglect based on the negligent 31 failure to inform the patient of the results of medical 32 tests shall not include the act of informing the patient of 33 the results of negligently performed medical tests or the 34 act of informing the patient of erroneous test results; [and] 35 (3) In cases in which the person bringing the action 36 is a minor less than eighteen years of age, such minor shall 37 have until his or her twentieth birthday to bring such 38 action; and 39 (4) In cases in which the act of neglect complained of 40 is related to the provision of a gender transition surgery 41 or other gender transition services or in the course of 42 prescribing or administering cross-sex hormones or puberty- 43 blocking drugs, the action shall be brought within fifteen 44 years from the date of discovery of the injury and of the 45 causal relationship between the injury and the provision of 46 a gender transition surgery or other gender transition 47 services or in the course of prescribing or administering 48 cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs. As used in 49 SB 1190 3 this subdivision, the terms "gender transition", "gender 50 transition services", "cross-sex hormones", and "puberty 51 blocking drugs" shall have the same meaning as such terms in 52 section 191.1720. 53 Except for those actions provided in subdivision (4) of this 54 subsection, in no event shall any action for damages for 55 malpractice, error, or mistake be commenced after the 56 expiration of ten years from the date of the act of neglect 57 complained of or for two years from a minor's eighteenth 58 birthday, whichever is later. 59 2. Any service on a defendant by a plaintiff after the 60 statute of limitations set forth in subsection 1 of this 61 section has expired or after the expiration of any extension 62 of the time provided to commence an action pursuant to law 63 shall be made within one hundred eighty days of the filing 64 of the petition. If such service is not made on a defendant 65 within one hundred eighty days of the filing of the 66 petition, the court shall dismiss the action against the 67 defendant. The dismissal shall be without prejudice unless 68 the plaintiff has previously taken or suffered a nonsuit, in 69 which case the dismissal shall be with prejudice. 70 538.212. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of 1 this chapter to the contrary, there shall be a statutory 2 cause of action for damages against a health care provider 3 for personal injury or death arising out of the rendering or 4 failure to render health care services while in the course 5 of performing a gender transition surgery or other gender 6 transition services or in the course of prescribing or 7 administering cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs. 8 This section shall replace any such common law cause of 9 SB 1190 4 action and actions covered by section 538.210 that are filed 10 after August 28, 2026. 11 2. The limitation on damages provided in section 12 538.210 shall not apply to actions brought pursuant to 13 subsection 1 of this section. In any action against a 14 health care provider for damages pursuant to subsection 1 of 15 this section, a prevailing plaintiff may recover economic 16 and noneconomic damages and punitive damages, without 17 limitation to the amount, but shall not recover less than 18 five hundred thousand dollars in the aggregate. The 19 judgment against a defendant in an action brought pursuant 20 to this section shall be in an amount of three times the 21 amount of any economic and noneconomic damages or punitive 22 damages assessed. Any award of damages in an action brought 23 pursuant to this subsection to a prevailing plaintiff shall 24 include attorney's fees and court costs. 25 3. Any purported waiver of liability by an injured 26 party for the provision of services or for the failure to 27 perform services related to a gender transition surgery or 28 other gender transition services or in the prescription or 29 administration of cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking 30 drugs by a health care provider shall be void and 31 unenforceable. 32 4. For purposes of this section, the following terms 33 mean: 34 (1) "Biological sex", the biological indication of 35 male or female in the context of reproductive potential or 36 capacity, such as sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex 37 hormones, gonads, and nonambiguous internal and external 38 genitalia present at birth, without regard to an 39 individual's psychological, chosen, or subjective experience 40 of gender; 41 SB 1190 5 (2) "Cross-sex hormones", testosterone, estrogen, or 42 other androgens given to an individual in amounts that are 43 greater or more potent than would normally occur naturally 44 in a healthy individual of the same age and sex; 45 (3) "Gender", the psychological, behavioral, social, 46 and cultural aspects of being male or female; 47 (4) "Gender transition", the process in which an 48 individual transitions from identifying with and living as a 49 gender that corresponds to his or her biological sex to 50 identifying with and living as a gender different from his 51 or her biological sex, and may involve social, legal, or 52 physical changes; 53 (5) "Gender transition surgery", a surgical procedure 54 performed for the purpose of assisting an individual with a 55 gender transition, including, but not limited to: 56 (a) Surgical procedures that sterilize, including, but 57 not limited to, castration, vasectomy, hysterectomy, 58 oophorectomy, orchiectomy, or penectomy; 59 (b) Surgical procedures that artificially construct 60 tissue with the appearance of genitalia that differs from 61 the individual's biological sex, including, but not limited 62 to, metoidioplasty, phalloplasty, or vaginoplasty; or 63 (c) Augmentation mammoplasty or subcutaneous 64 mastectomy; 65 (6) "Puberty-blocking drugs", gonadotropin-releasing 66 hormone analogues or other synthetic drugs used to stop 67 luteinizing hormone secretion and follicle stimulating 68 hormone secretion, synthetic antiandrogen drugs to block the 69 androgen receptor, or any other drug used to delay or 70 suppress pubertal development in children for the purpose of 71 assisting an individual with a gender transition. 72 ✓