Recent Blog Posts

Just a few years ago, Pennsylvania was moving towards the monitoring of “preventable serious adverse events” or “never events” in acute care facilities in Pennsylvania. Progress on “preventable adverse events” has been inordinately slow but substantial in the Commonwealth. Unfortunately, the progress coincides with financial strains. The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council reported this year that Pennsylvania acute care hospitals experienced a reduction in net income of $865 million from FY08 to FY 09. The loss was largely due to losses in investment income and other non-operating income. Continue reading →

Last month I addressed the defense of “sudden emergency.” This month I would like to discuss the defense of “sudden medical emergency” or “unforseen unconsciousness” defense. This is a defense which is generally rarely used in motor vehicle cases. Under Pennsylvania law, the sudden medical emergency defense, also called the “unforseen unconsciousness” defense, is a complete defense to an action based on the asserted negligence of a defendant driver of a motor vehicle. Continue reading →

Pennsylvania Courts have acknowledged the “sudden emergency doctrine” as a relevant defense in determining whether a driver was negligent in a car accident. See Lockhart v. List, 665 A.2d 1176 (Pa. 1995). The “sudden emergency doctrine” recognizes that a driver, who, although driving in a prudent manner, is confronted with a sudden or unexpected event which little or no time to comprehend a situation and act accordingly should not be subject to liability simply because another perhaps more prudent course was available; rather, under such circumstances, a person is only required to exhibit an honest exercise of judgment. Continue reading →