JACKSON - Doctors and lawyers gathered at the Capitol to give what is becoming familiar testimony on the state of Mississippi's civil justice system.
As in past hearings on the topic, medical professionals on Thursday said Mississippi's litigious climate was chasing doctors out of the state.
Medical malpractice insurance has become extremely expensive, if not impossible to find, doctors say.
"We believe tort reform is the answer," Dr. George McGee of Hattiesburg, president-elect of the Mississippi State Medical Association, told the 26-member House and Senate committee that's exploring whether to revise the state's civil justice system - or tort reform.
Thursday's hearings took place in the Capitol's old Supreme Court Chamber - the same setting for hearings on the same topic in December before members of the House and Senate insurance committees.
The scene was nearly identical - a group of trial lawyers on one side of the chamber, a dozen or so white-coated doctors on the other.
Some 15 people were scheduled to testify, including the president of the Magnolia Bar Association, a pediatric neurologist and a hospital chief executive.
Doctors and business groups are calling for extensive changes to the civil justice system, while trial lawyers say the system works fine as it is. Lawyers have said the dwindling number of insurance companies willing to write malpractice policies in the state has more to do with bad investments and the economic downturn than with the legal system.
Tort reform proposals failed during the regular legislative session earlier this year, as legislation died in judiciary committees of both the House and Senate.
David Baria of Jackson, president of the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association, said an informal group of doctors and lawyers had met once recently to discuss concerns and possible solutions.
A sticking point, Baria said, is something that McGee focused heavily on in his testimony: A recommendation by doctors and business groups to cap non-economic damages at $250,000 for things such as pain and suffering.
"That's something we can't agree to," said Baria, who attended the hearing but was not scheduled to testify. "That's a right that belongs to the citizens of Mississippi."
The medical association also would like to see the Legislature enact reforms that would prohibit so-called "venue shopping," make liability in a lawsuit commensurate with responsibility and place limits on lawyers' fees.
McGee told committee members that 7 percent of the state's 4,000 or so practicing doctors had been sued since the first of May. He said the doctors having the hardest time finding liability coverage were those in "high risk" specialties such as obstetrics/gynecology and neurosurgery. "Scores of surgeons are leaving the state," McGee said.
He offered some specifics, such as five doctors who moved their practices from Natchez to a nearby city in Louisiana and a group of radiologists about to lose their insurance coverage in Hattiesburg.
McGee was questioned at length by Rep. Ed Blackmon Jr., D-Canton, a prominent trial lawyer.
Rep. Jim Simpson, R-Pass Christian, said he'd like the medical association to submit to the committee information that shows how reforms in other states have helped stabilize the insurance market.
"I can assure you, before the sun sets today, someone will … directly contradict what you've said," Simpson said he told McGee.
Testimony continues today, and the committee has scheduled three hearings outside of Jackson in July.
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