At the beginning of his tenure as governor in 2004, Haley Barbour led Mississippi to adopt what The Wall Street Journal called the most comprehensive tort reform in the country. I recently interviewed Governor Barbour about his achievement and the role physicians played in tort reform for this special issue of the Journal. Afterwards, I asked Drs. Hugh Gamble and Mike Trotter, who had participated in the interview, what is the political lesson physicians should learn from the tort reform battle. Dr. Gamble, long a veteran of medical and state politics, promptly said, “Persistence is a virtue and is how you achieve a political goal.” Dr. Trotter agreed that the long discussion with Barbour centered on the effectiveness of persistence in pursuit of a political goal, persistence which may be required over the span of many years.
Physicians succeeded in effecting tort reform in 2004 due to a long-term commitment to a worthy goal. Tort reform took more than two years of a focused political effort to accomplish its aims. Physicians and their allies suffered setbacks along the way. Even after the momentum of his election, Governor Barbour was unable to accomplish reform in his first regular session. He had to call the Legislature back into a special session to win passage of the comprehensive package. Despite repeated legislative foot dragging for years, physicians and other proponents of reform did not give up their quest. They persisted. They persisted in electing legislators who listened to the needs of physicians and cared about patients. They persisted in electing a governor who cared about the needs of physicians and their patients. Moreover, they persisted in electing judges who cared about the rights of physicians and their patients.
In remembering our past success almost twenty years ago with tort reform, we must not celebrate but rather emphasize that vigilance remains essential. Tort reform is not a battle we have permanently won. It is not over and done with; it could be destroyed at any session of the Legislature. We must stay alert. Each year, including this one, bills are introduced in our Legislature seeking to increase or eliminate the cap on noneconomic damages. California’s cap on noneconomic damages was recently increased. Medical malpractice claims have also increased in severity. Malpractice premiums have gone up noticeably in the last year. Tort reform teaches physicians that persistence in politics pays. It also teaches that physicians must be ever vigilant to maintain our ability to practice medicine and care for our patients by protecting our medical malpractice environment.
Contact me at drluciuslampton@gmail.com. — Lucius M. Lampton, MD, Editor