Sen. Lisa Baker (R-20), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, recently called for the suspension of a proposed rule change from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Civil Procedural Rules Committee regarding venue in medical professional liability actions.
Under reforms enacted in the early 2000s to protect against increasing medical liability rates, medical liability claims must stand trial in the county where the alleged medical error occurred. This requirement is designed to prevent attorneys from moving medical liability claims to counties which award higher payouts, a practice called venue shopping.
The Civil Procedural Rules Committee has argued that the rule is no longer necessary and has proposed eliminating it.
“This proposed rule needs to be suspended for a fuller examination of its implications, for medical care and for the overall economy,” Baker said as part of a public comment period. “We need to have a reputable entity such as the Legislative Budget and Finance and Committee do an economic analysis of the expected impact of the promulgation. This will give the legal community, the medical community, the business community, and the public ample opportunity to weigh in with statistics, trends, arguments, and philosophies. The committee can put forward their reasoning for change, but the jury will be the public at large rather than a small segment of the legal community.”
Baker sent a letter to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s Civil Procedural Rules Committee calling for the delay of the rule.
“One of Pennsylvania’s strengths is the medical care system, the institutions, the technology, the practitioners, and the research capacity that are decided competitive advantages and indispensable to the quality of life,” Baker said. “If this change moves forward unchallenged, the fear is it will reverse progress and prove immensely destabilizing to medical care.”