PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia courts are on track to see 600 new medical malpractice cases this year, after a rule change at the beginning of last year allowed more cases to be filed in the city rather in the county where the incident occurred.

That would represent a 46% increase from the annual average in the three years before the pandemic, Daniel J. Anders, administrative judge in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court's trial division, said Wednesday during a webinar updating lawyers on the court's system for managing medical malpractice cases.

The figures presented in session, sponsored by the Philadelphia Bar Association, did not identify how many of these cases were previously ineligible to be filed in Philadelphia. The rule change allows cases to be filed in Philadelphia as long as a defendant does business or can be served in the city.

Philadelphia has a reputation for large jury verdicts, though so far this year the city has seen only two medical malpractice verdicts worth $10 million or more. Last year, there were four such so-called "nuclear verdicts," including a record $183 million birth-injury verdict against the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

An Inquirer analysis of court data on complaints filed between Jan. 1, 2023, and April, found that 43% of 657 medical malpractice complaints initiated in Philadelphia were based on care provided outside the city. A Scranton case was filed in Philadelphia, for example, because a temporary nurse had a permanent address in the city.

Anders predicted that next year the monthly average would be 50 new cases, which is higher than the 45 cases per month he had expected earlier this year.

The number of cases in Philadelphia could increase if consolidation by Philadelphia-based health systems continues. That would increase the number doctors and hospitals who could be sued in the city under the new rule, Anders said.

Early next year, the University of Pennsylvania Health System is expected to complete its acquisition of Doylestown Health.

Thomas Jefferson University's acquisition of Lehigh Valley Health Network on Aug. 1 added 15 hospital campuses to Jefferson's network, bring the total to 32. That means Jefferson can now be sued in the city over care delivered at Lehigh Valley facilities stretching from Allentown to Scranton and Hazleton.

A Jefferson executive participated in Wednesday's webinar and explained Jefferson's approach to coming up with proposed settlement amounts.

"Damage calculations should be intended to compensate the injured person and their family," said Clare Bello, who became Jefferson's enterprise director for claims and insurance in February. "What it shouldn't be is a number that's exponentially increased simply because it's been brought here in Philadelphia," she said.

Anders noted that so far this year 26 cases have gotten jury verdicts, the most in the decade he's been tracking the numbers. There were seven verdicts for plaintiffs and 19 for defendants. The biggest verdict was a $45 million verdict against Temple University Health System in August.

It's too soon to see the financial impact of the rule change in terms of verdicts because those new cases are still working their way through the legal process.

But already, Pennsylvania's medical malpractice compensation fund, called MCARE, has seen a steady increase in claims paid statewide, Beth Persun, the fund's executive director, said during the webinar. Total claims for the year ended Aug. 31 were $275 million, up from $242 million the year before, she said.

Normally there's a slowdown at MCARE after August, but not this year, Persun said. "Our staff continues to be very busy."

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