From 2003 to 2008, lawsuits for medical malpractice cases in Pennsylvania decreased 37% to 41% from the average number of cases filed in 2000 to 2002. This information is from statistics compiled by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Also according to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, for 2008, the most recent year available, the doctor, hospital or other medical provider won in over 81% of the medical malpractice lawsuits filed. Here in western Pennsylvania, the medical providers also won the malpractice lawsuits most of the time. For instance, in Allegheny County the jury found in favor of the medical provider in 14 out of 17 cases, which is 82.4% of the time. Of the three verdicts for the patient, one verdict was for $500,000 or less and two verdicts were between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000.
Doctors and medical malpractice liability insurance companies often claim that medical malpractice lawsuits are driving up insurance costs and driving doctors out of the state. With the dramatic decrease in malpractice lawsuits, however, this statement simply cannot be true.
