The state Supreme Court recently agreed to suspend work on voiding medical malpractice reform.
Work will stop until the court receives a report by the Legislative Finance and Budget Committee, according to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Lisa Baker (R- Lehman Township).
House Republicans said Supreme Court Justice Thomas Saylor told House leadership no further action would be taken until a further review of the rule’s impact could be completed.
“The state Supreme Court’s vote to direct its Civil Procedural Rules Committee to suspend work on the change-of-venue rule is a welcome development,” Baker, Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-Jefferson) and Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R-Benner Township) said in a statement. “The legislative and judicial branches previously acted together to solve the medical malpractice crisis, with the Legislature enacting a series of reforms in 2002 and the Supreme Court adopting its rule against venue shopping in 2003. In the same spirit of cooperation, we hope the comprehensive study to be conducted by the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee will help inform all of us on whether changes to the venue rule are warranted.”
Between 2000-2003, there were 2,733 medical malpractice cases filed annually. After the 2003 reform, cases fell 47 percent.