Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove (D) yesterday signed a bill that would cap awards in malpractice lawsuits against physicians, hospitals and nursing homes, the AP/Memphis Commercial Appeal reports (Straziuso, AP/Memphis Commercial Appeal, 10/8). The Mississippi Legislature on Monday approved the compromise legislation, ending a "month-long standoff" between House and Senate negotiators. The House voted 88-31 and the Senate 41-6 to limit jury awards for noneconomic damages to $500,000. The cap would be raised to $750,000 in 2011 and $1 million in 2017. Also under the legislation, malpractice suits must be filed in the county in which the alleged malpractice occurred; doctors or nurses who volunteer their services would be immune from malpractice lawsuits; the statute of limitations in cases against nursing homes would be reduced from three to two years; and a doctor who is listed among multiple defendants must be found to be more than 30% at fault to be held responsible for up to 50% of the final jury award. The legislation does not include a proposal requested by Musgrove that would have created a state-administered malpractice insurance pool. Many insurers have left Mississippi, causing malpractice premiums to rise "dramatically" and some doctors to end their practices. Dr. John Cook, president of the Mississippi State Medical Association, said of the approved bill, "It affords an opportunity for insurance companies to come back into Mississippi." But David Baria, president of the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association, said the legislation will do little to address the "immediate" insurance crisis and added that the caps do not discourage "frivolous" lawsuits (Branson, Memphis Commercial Appeal, 10/8). Premium increases by some malpractice insurers have prompted some Mississippi OB/GYNs to say that they may stop practicing obstetrics or leave the state (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 9/24).