Bush Reiterates Call for Caps on Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Awards During Trip to Mississippi

During a speech in Madison, Miss., on Aug. 7, President Bush said that "junk and frivolous lawsuits" are "decimating" the health care industry, the Washington Times reports. The president said that "unscrupulous" lawyers "fishing" for lawsuits are behind the increasing cost of medical malpractice insurance plans nationwide. Bush maintains that frivolous lawsuits drive up the cost of government health programs by more than $25 billion per year (Curl, Washington Times, 8/8). The call for tort reform has reached a "fevered pitch" in Mississippi, where insurance rates for obstetricians in the state have risen 20% to 400% in the past year, and many insurance companies no longer offer medical malpractice coverage at all, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports (Sawyer, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, 8/8). As a result of rising malpractice insurance rates, Mississippi is expected to lose 10% of its doctors this year, Bush said. The state has seen a dramatic rise in malpractice lawsuits and awards in the last few years. Before 1995, no malpractice lawsuit verdicts topped $9 million in Mississippi, but 19 verdicts since then have exceeded that amount. At the same time, the number of malpractice lawsuits in Jefferson County, Miss., which includes the state capital, rose from fewer than 10,000 in 1999 to more than 27,000 in 2000.

Calling for Reform
Saying that the "lawsuit industry is devastating the practice of medicine" in Mississippi, Bush called on Congress to pass his proposal that would limit medical malpractice lawsuit awards and overhaul other elements of the system (Washington Times, 8/8). Bush's plan would cap the amount patients could be awarded for noneconomic damages, such as compensation for pain and suffering, at $250,000. The plan also would limit punitive damages to $250,000, or twice economic damages, whichever is greater. Economic damages, such as medical expenses or lost income, would remain uncapped (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/26). The American Medical Association and the insurance industry support Bush's plan, but trial lawyers and consumer groups oppose caps that would "inhibit patients' ability to hold doctors accountable" (Washington Times, 8/8). David Baria, president of the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association, said, "Most people want to maintain their own right to receive adequate compensation for being wronged. It's the other person's right they want capped" (Jackson Clarion-Ledger, 8/8). A transcript of Bush's speech is available online. See related story on malpractice insurance issues in Nevada.