Venue Shopping Hearing ** Ruling on Evidence of Risks and Complications
Watching Closely: LBFC venue shopping hearing June 25-26
The Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (LBFC) will hold two hearings on the impact of the proposed medical malpractice venue rule change on June 25 and June 26 in Harrisburg. The hearings start at 9 am each day in the state Capitol, hearing room 8E-B. PCCJR will live-tweet from the hearing @paciviljustice.
In February, organizations from across Pennsylvania joined forces to voice their strong opposition to a proposed ‘venue shopping’ rule change making its way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The proposed Venue Change Amendment to Pa.R.C.P. Nos. 1006, 2130, 2156, and 2179 of the Civil Procedure Rules, would gut the most significant reform that provided relief from the medical malpractice crisis of the early 2000s.
“The Senate heard our collective voices loud and clear and put the brakes on the proposed rule change by introducing Senate Resolution 20 (SR 20),” said Curt Schroder, PCCJR’sexecutive director. “Our hope is this hearing will paint an unbiased and accurate picture of what could happen should the Supreme Court change the current venue rule.”
PCCJR has set up a special landing page to educate Pennsylvanians about the negative impact this rule change will have on access to health care. Be sure to check it out and share!
The PA Supreme Court Gets It Right!
Evidence of the risks and complications associated with surgical procedures can be admissible in medical negligence cases according to a June 18 opinion by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
The court’s ruling in the case of Mitchell v. Shikora, held that evidence of risks and complications could be admissible in certain cases. In doing so, the court reversed the Superior Court’s earlier decision.
Before any medical procedure, health care providers carefully review with their patients the known risks and complications. It only makes sense that juries understand those same risks and complications when asked to determine the outcome of medical malpractice cases.
Read more about the case in this Law.com article and this article from JD Supra.
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