Physicians in 4 states score tort reform wins

Missouri and South Carolina are the latest to pass a cap on noneconomic damages; Montana and Virginia ratify other measures.

By Mike Norbut, AMNews staff. April 18, 2005.

It's been a busy season already for tort reform, as physicians in four states saw their governors recently sign legislation designed to help ease the burden of rising liability premiums.

Missouri, one of 20 states the AMA has declared to be in crisis because of its liability climate, passed a comprehensive package. It includes a $350,000 cap on noneconomic damages with no adjustment for inflation and a provision limiting a plaintiff to just one award per defendant.

In the past, Missouri plaintiffs were able to collect noneconomic damages multiple times for the same injury, if they could prove that negligence occurred on more than one occasion.

South Carolina also passed a bill that includes a $350,000 cap, while Montana and Virginia adopted measures that, among other provisions, tighten expert witness rules and allow physicians to apologize to patients without having that expression of sympathy used against them in court.

Physicians say momentum is building for tort reform with every legislative action that receives a governor's signature.

"Medical liability reform is on the march at the state level throughout the United States," said AMA Immediate Past President Donald J. Palmisano, MD. "What this shows is the American public is in favor of this."

It also shows that physicians can be rewarded for their patience and persistence, which was especially true in Missouri.

Doctors in the state had twice seen legislation passed, only to have it vetoed once it reached the governor. Gov. Matt Blunt made tort reform a campaign priority last year, however, so it was only a matter of time once he was elected that physicians would get relief, said Edmond B. Cabbabe, MD, president of the Missouri State Medical Assn.