A recent opinion column by Seth Higgins in Broad and Liberty details the declining health of the Commonwealth’s healthcare sector – with a slew of hospital closures and reduction in services in recent years. While a reduction in pandemic related federal funding has often been cited as one of the driving forces behind this decline, another factor that is exponentially increasing costs is the state’s growing litigious legal climate, including venue shopping in medical malpractice cases.
As Higgins notes, unlimited claims on non-economic damages along with venue shopping in medical malpractice cases are “a lethal regulatory environment for the few remaining specialists in rural Pennsylvania.”
Challenges faced by doctors and hospitals could be addressed and fixed with legislation. However, as Higgins explains, trial lawyers and their advocacy association remain a large hurdle to getting any meaningful lawsuit reforms enacted to aid our health care providers.
You can read Higgins entire column here.