Mark Pryor, his Democratic opponent in the Nov. 5 general election, said lawsuits were a small portion of rising health costs, but that he would consider tort reform that gives a strong voice to patients.

Hutchinson and Pryor spoke during separate appearances Thursday at the annual meeting of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Arkansas.

"Society is too litigious," Hutchinson told business leaders.

Litigation makes doing business more expensive, particularly making it more expensive for doctors and others to afford liability insurance, he said.

"We need to put some caps on lawsuits," he said.

The senator said he supports companies pooling their resources to provide health insurance for workers.

In a later appearance, Pryor said that while in the state Legislature during the early 1990s, he voted for legislation that prohibited lawsuits against doctors when they provide free medical care.

Pryor said medical malpractice accounted for barely 1 percent of the increase in health care costs. His campaign later provided a study by the Consumer Federation of America that concluded that losses have risen by one-half of 1 percent over the last decade on a per-capita basis more than medical inflation.

"I will look at any common sense (tort reform) proposal out there," Pryor said.

He said he was concerned that, in Washington, insurance companies and doctors are getting together without involving patients in the process.

"I'll always insist that the patients be there and that they have a voice at the table," he said.

Thursday night, Hutchinson spoke at a candidate forum in Searcy, along with Pryor's father, former U. S. Sen. David Pryor.

David Pryor appeared and spoke on behalf of Mark, who was at a campaign event in El Dorado.

"Mark Pryor believes this race is about you. This race is about who we want in this state to be the spokesperson for the hopes and dreams of the state," David Pryor said.

He also hammered Hutchinson on his voting record, saying the Republican senator cast votes to abolish the Department of Education, the school lunch program, and federal funding to public broadcasting. He also said Hutchinson voted repeatedly to block minimum wage raises and against bills to limit prescription drug prices.

Hutchinson said his record has been distorted.

"You would think that I hate old people, I want to starve little children, and I don't care about working people. Nothing could be further from the truth," Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson defended his record in the Senate, saying he supported legislation that resulted in the $500 per-child tax credit, for a prescription drug benefit for seniors, and to balance the budget.

"I've tried to limit the tax burden on working families," he said.