profession
Medical liability cases drop in Pennsylvania
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted May 10, 2010
Medical liability lawsuit filings in Pennsylvania dropped for the fifth straight year, according to state Supreme Court statistics released in April.
New claims fell 4%, from 1,602 in 2008 to 1,533 in 2009. The 2009 numbers marked a 47% decline from the 2,904 filings recorded in 2002, when lawmakers passed a series of tort reform measures.
In particular, the high court attributed the improvements to two key judicial reforms that required lawyers to include a certificate of merit with each case, and to file suit in the county where the alleged incident occurred to prevent what is known as venue shopping. The Pennsylvania Medical Society backed the changes.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/05/10/prbf0510.htm.