The number of medical liability lawsuit filings dropped about 4 percent in 2009, from 1,602 in 2008 to 1,533.
This was the fifth year in a row that medical liability lawsuit filings declined. They are down 43.9 percent from the base years of 2000-2002, the three years prior to the Act 13 liability reforms, according to state Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille.
“We are pleased that the reforms we pursued so vigorously in 2002 appear to have had a meaningful impact on the number of medical liability lawsuits filed,” said Pennsylvania Medical Society President James Goodyear, MD.
“However, there has not been a corresponding reduction in liability premiums. It is clear that more remains to be done and we continue to campaign for further medical liability reform. We will closely monitor and analyze this and other data relating to lawsuit filings,” he added.