Tort reform eases burden for Mississippi physicians

Reform limits where cases can be tried, caps punitive damages and limits joint-and-several liability rules.

Issue: January 2003

John B. McGinty, MD [photo] --- John B. McGinty, Chief Medical Editor

For some time now we have been belaboring the issues of huge increases in malpractice premiums and tort reform. We have seen physicians leaving many states because of the inability to practice due to soaring premiums. We have seen jury awards that are way out of proportion to the damages allegedly sustained. We have seen large-scale lobbying efforts by trial lawyers associations to oppose tort reform. Attorneys have made huge profits in this system, sometimes on the basis of spurious claims.

An event occurred in Mississippi in late November, however, which may presage change.

Mississippi had become a haven for class-action litigation with suits coming from all over the United States.

In Jefferson County the number of litigants in asbestos-related cases exceeded the county’s population. Six defendants were awarded $150 million on a claim that asbestos exposure might make them ill someday.

Physicians have been forced to leave the state as 71 insurance companies stopped writing malpractice policies there.

For years, trial lawyers urged key legislative committees to block reform as business groups and physicians organized and pushed for it.

The Chamber of Commerce recommended that its members not do business in the state until tort reform was accomplished. Local business groups ran education campaigns and the Jackson Clarion-Ledger exposed how the image of “tort hell” was hurting the state’s economy.

Special legislative session called

To address the state’s medical crisis, the governor called a special legislative session in September. The session dragged on for 82 days until two events broke the impasse. In the November election, three pro-trial judges were defeated, including a sitting Supreme Court justice.

Then, “60 Minutes” capped a series of national media stories on Mississippi with a segment exposing the corruption of its jury system. A Jefferson County florist reported that he knew jurors who had been given payoffs in exchange for finding for the plaintiff. The legislature passed the reform less than 30 hours after the show aired.

The legislature voted to:

limit where cases can be tried,
cap punitive damage awards,
limit the state’s joint-and-several liability rules so that companies with little blame can’t be soaked as deep pockets,
bar advertising by attorneys who are not licensed to practice in Mississippi and
fine attorneys who file frivolous lawsuits.

The prevailing national view is that attempts at reform cannot get past a filibuster by Senate Democrats. But the experience in Mississippi suggests that an education campaign and a movement where business, medical professionals and consumers exert pressure can accomplish a lot.

It won’t be easy, but the trial lawyers must be shown that an interest in American society comes before their own self-interest and that they must comply with that policy.