Lehigh Med Summer 2019 - 19

L C M E D S O C .O R G

DOES VENUE MATTER
IN MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASES?
EXPLORING THE "PHILADELPHIA EFFECT"
BY JAMES MIRANDA, MD, GERALD WYDRO, MD, JOHN SCHROEDER, DO,
Department of Emergency Medicine, Jefferson Health Northeast

INTRODUCTION

RESULTS

The risk of medical malpractice litigation is an area of significant
concern for physicians, hospitals and health care systems. It results
in significant economic and non-economic costs to the health care
system. Although most cases are settled or otherwise dispositioned
via arbitration, mediation, or even dropped, prior to trial, some
cases proceed through the legal system and are ultimately decided
by jury. This study seeks to explore whether a certain venue,
Philadelphia, is less favorable to defendants in terms of likelihood
of the verdict and in the case of a plaintiff verdict, whether dollar
amounts awarded to plaintiffs are higher.

The number of medical malpractice cases filed in Pennsylvania
from 2000 to 2017 is seen in Table 1. In 2003, the annual number of
cases filed declined significantly. This coincided with the institution
of Act 27-2002, which limited venue to the county in which the
alleged malpractice occurred.

Table 1: Malpractice Cases Filed in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania

Philadelphia

% Philadelphia

2000

2,733

1,204

44%

2001

2,733

1,204

44%

2002

2,733

1,204

44%

2003

1,712

577

34%

2004

1,819

559

31%

2005

1,711

540

32%

2006

1,702

569

33%

2007

1,640

586

36%

2008

1,602

553

35%

2009

1,532

491

32%

2010

1,490

381

26%

2011

1,675

418

25%

2012

1,510

389

26%

2013

1,560

382

24%

METHOD

2014

1,512

382

25%

Data from the Pennsylvania State Courts website is publicly
available in an online format and provides data from 2000-2017.
It reports the number of cases filed by county, the number of cases
decided by jury verdicts and ranges of awards. This data was analyzed
to identify trends where cases were filed, how often a jury returned
verdicts for defendants or plaintiffs, and ranges of awards in dollars
for plaintiff verdicts. Odds ratios were calculated to compare the
relationship between plaintiff victories in Philadelphia versus the rest
of the state and to analyze potential differences in monetary awards.

2015

1,530

381

25%

2016

1,541

378

25%

2017

1,449

406

28%

Total

32,195

10,604

33%

Under current state law in Pennsylvania, a malpractice case must
be filed in the county where the alleged malpractice occurred. A
proposal by the Civil Procedural Rules Committee of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to change Act 27-2002 would allow a broad
selection of venue for medical malpractice cases. The proposed
change would allow the filing of a lawsuit in any county where
the health care provider regularly does business. This has caused
much concern among physicians and health systems, as it is widely
believed that certain venues are less favorable to health providers and
more favorable to plaintiff attorneys. It is a reasonable hypothesis
that this will result in more cases being filed in plaintiff-friendly
courts, and prompt more case filing, resulting in higher payouts
and increased medical malpractice premiums. This study reviews
publicly available data from the Pennsylvania state website (http://
www.pacourts.us/news-and-statistics/research-and-statistics/) and
evaluates the extent of disparities for verdicts and awards between
Philadelphia County, which is believed to be plaintiff-friendly, and
the rest of Pennsylvania cases that go to trial.

*2000-2002 based on 3-year average. Individual annual data unavailable

Continued on page 18
SUMMER 2019 | Lehigh County Health & Medicine 19
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