CHARLESTON, S.C. - Sitting at a table outside a hospital emergency room entrance, Gov. Mark Sanford signed a law Monday capping pain and suffering awards in medical malpractice lawsuits.

"What this bill is fundamentally about is lowering the cost of medicine," Sanford told about 100 people gathered outside Roper Hospital. "It's fundamentally about having medicine practiced by doctors, not by lawyers."

The legislation, approved by lawmakers last week, limits non-economic damage awards to $350,000. If there are multiple defendants, such awards would be capped at $1.05 million in medical malpractice suits.

Twenty-eight other states now have laws limiting pain and suffering awards in malpractice suits. In those states, malpractice premiums are rising more slowly than in other states, the governor's office said.

"This is about being competitive," Sanford said. "It's about better and more accessible health care."

State Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, said the new law does not prevent people from suing doctors for malpractice and recovering damages.

"All it caps are non-economic damages," he said.

But deciding how much money to award for such damages is imprecise, unscientific and "a greatly emotional issue," the senator said. "It's whatever the emotion of the moment and the case moves the jury to do."

Dr. John Evans, president of the South Carolina Medical Association, said the new law will mean patients will be able to continue to get high quality medical care in the state.

"This legislation will ensure that South Carolina will not get into the crisis that other states have gotten themselves into," he said. "It means that doctors ... won't have to restrict the number of patients they see; don't have to reduce risky services; don't have to retire early."

Sanford, known for trying to find places to trim spending, drew a laugh from the gathering when, using several pens to sign the legislation, he handed the pens to lawmakers and physicians standing behind him.

"They're not excited about these 89-cent pens," the governor quipped.