For years, plaintiffs’ attorneys in Pennsylvania have argued that the Commonwealth’s medical malpractice venue rule – which held that cases had to be tried in the county in which the alleged incident occurred – prevented their clients from getting justice. They were so persuasive in this argument that the Supreme Court moved to rescind the venue rule this past summer. A recent report, however, negates the trial bar’s contention.
A national review of medical malpractice cases over the past 10 years found that Pennsylvania ranked 4th highest in the country for the number of medical malpractice cases filed. That classification goes against the argument that Pennsylvania’s previous venue rule was too restrictive and prevented the filing of medical malpractice cases in the state.
The Commonwealth was joined by New York, California, Florida and New Jersey to make the list of the top five states that filed the most medical malpractice reports. A breakdown of the analysis can be found here.
Being number four apparently wasn’t enough for the plaintiffs’ bar.