GREENVILLE, S.C. - Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jim DeMint said Thursday he supports a federal plan to curb frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits that he said are nothing but get-rich schemes for lawyers.

DeMint was joined by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., who said Republicans want to rein in court awards that are forcing doctors out of business and causing the cost of health care to skyrocket.

"The idea of reforming is not taking away the right to sue," DeMint said. "What we're trying to do is to take away just the legal jackpot opportunity that benefits a few lawyers, but it adds to the cost of and reduces the access for every other patient."

Frist said patients who have been injured should receive full economic damages, but there should be a cap on non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering.

He also wants to limit the amount of money attorneys could receive from an award given to a patient.

Currently, attorneys can take up to half the settlement, giving lawyers an incentive to bring lawsuits.

DeMint, a three-term congressman, has supported similar legislation in the House, but it has been stalled in the Senate.

His opponent, Democrat Inez Tenenbaum, agreed there should be efforts to weed out lawsuits based on merits, even suggesting sanctions for lawyers who file frivolous lawsuits, but says it should be left up to the states.

"I would never interfere with a state's right to determine appropriate compensation for victims of medical malpractice," said Tenenbaum, who practiced law for six years and is now the state education superintendent.

Efforts to push tort reform through the Legislature died when the session ended in June. But earlier this week, Gov. Mark Sanford said he would work to pass legislation next year.

DeMint and Frist each said it is a federal issues because health care costs are skyrocketing and it's diminishing care for patients.

"Today, we're in crisis," Frist said. "States have failed to address (the problem) and the longer we wait, the bigger the crisis is. Why is that? Because the personal injury lawyers have a hold on state government. Their lobbying is so powerful."

DeMint said he wants a similar system in every state.

"What I hope we'll do is have a basic umbrella, basic caps, basic rules about the frivolous lawsuits and then the states, like South Carolina, can compete to have the best legal environment for physicians to practice," DeMint said.

That, he says, will attract the best doctors to states with strong regulation of lawsuits.

"To say it's just a state issue doesn't take in account that a lot of the payments now for health care and the actual design for what patients can get is coming through the federal government and Medicare and veterans benefits."

DeMint and Frist agreed it should be up to states to determine how to judge the merits of lawsuits before they are allowed in court.

"You make a case that there may be a patient that deserves $50 million, but at the cost of our total health care system, it doesn't make sense," DeMint said. "And whether it's my own family or whoever, we cannot continue this system because it's clearly hurting health care."