Broad & Liberty: Nuclear verdicts and junk science are creating a judicial hellhole

By Jennifer Riley, Patients Come First Pennsylvania Executive Director

Over the years, Pennsylvania has become flooded with excessive lawsuits that are pushing our healthcare system to a breaking point. Philadelphia, in particular, is increasingly known for “nuclear verdicts,” with jury awards over $10 million. Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas has become a magnet for massive awards, including an $815 million verdict and numerous nine-figure awards in one year. As a result, medical malpractice and product liability cases are often filed there, and the court has been labeled a “judicial hellhole®” for its potential for high jury awards.

Back in 2023, a major Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling flipped Pennsylvania’s legal system on its head. For twenty years, medical lawsuits could only be filed in the county where the care actually happened. Now, a provider can be sued anywhere they “do business.” This has opened the floodgates for lawyers to drag cases into big cities like Philadelphia or Pittsburgh to chase higher payouts.

The compounding problem is that judges aren’t being tough enough on the “science” allowed in the courtroom. Under federal Rule 702, judges are supposed to act like gatekeepers, making sure only reliable, proven medical evidence ever reaches a jury. 

Read the full op-ed in Broad & Liberty here.