Truths About Medical Malpractice Litigation in Pennsylvania

Recent data provided from the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts for 2008 is revealing. Here are a few points from it and other studies that go to the truth of what is happening in Pennsylvania regarding medical malpractice litigation.

In 2008, of the 161 cases that went to a jury verdict, 131 (81.4%) were defense verdicts. Chief Justice Ronald Castille remarked that the newest statistics provide additional evidence that the “sharp drop in medical malpractice litigation, which began in 2003, was not a temporary correction, but a sustained and stable response to the procedural rule changes adopted by the Supreme Court and the statutory changes enacted by the General Assembly.”

Pennsylvania is not in a malpractice crisis. In fact, as recently as December 2008, the nation’s most recognized “tort reform” think tank, the American Tort Reform Foundation, cited Pennsylvania as a “point of light” for its decrease in medical malpractice lawsuits and doctor’s malpractice insurance premiums.