JACKSON, Miss. — You may have heard of Mississippi being called sue city, or being the home of jackpot justice ten years ago. In 2004, tort reform put a $500,000 cap on damage awards for medical malpractice. Monday, the Stennis Institute and the Capitol Press Corps to held a discussion tort reform’s passage in Mississippi.
“The plaintiff gets all his lost wages, the plaintiff gets all his medical bills past and present, any economic losses he suffered. The cap is only on subjective elements that cannot be measured like pain and suffering,” said former Senator Charlie Ross.
According Ross, before cap limits were set, physicians were choosing to practice in other states, and some were even giving up their practice. He also says Mississippi was forced to set up a state run insurance program because before tort reform insurance for medical malpractice was not affordable. He also noted that Toyota said one of the reasons they considered to locate in Mississippi was because the state passed tort reform.
