Pennsylvania Medmal Suits Drop 30% in Wake of "Reform"

According to data from Pennsylvania's Supreme Court, the number of medical malpractice suits filed last year dropped by nearly 30% from the previous three years, the Scranton Times Tribune reports. Although the reasons for the decline are uncertain, many analysts and attorneys will attribute them to substantive and procedural changes adopted by the state's legislature and the courts since 2002. These include adjustments to the state's joint-and-several liability regime, provisions to discourage venue-shopping, and the new requirement that attorneys filing medical malpractice claims obtain a "certificate of merit" from an independent health care professional attesting that treatment fell outside acceptable standards.

There's no evidence that Pennsylvania malpractice premiums have fallen as a result. We'll see if they do.