Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "For cruelty, malpractice cap tops all"

Last week, members of the Georgia General Assembly came perilously close to committing the most serious act of legislative malpractice seen in the Capitol in years. And that deed may have been only delayed, not averted. For years, a pitched battle has been fought out in the Legislature between doctors and lawyers over changes in malpractice law. And although the issue does not cleave strictly along partisan lines, the issue has been turned into a crusade at the national level by the Republican Party.

The gist of the medical industry's complaint is that soaring malpractice awards have driven insurance rates so high that doctors and hospitals are being forced out of business. While malpractice insurance costs have indeed soared, there's no evidence for the rest of that case -- no evidence of a dramatic climb in awards, no evidence that such awards are responsible for the rise in insurance rates, no evidence that the rise in insurance has driven substantial numbers of doctors out of business.

But driven largely by anecdote, that storyline has nonetheless become an article of faith for some people. And with Republicans taking control of state government, passage of a strong "tort reform" bill was assured.