On Aug. 25, 2022, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court repealed Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 1006(a.1), which limited venue in medical liability cases to the county where the cause of action arose, effective Jan. 1, 2023. Now, plaintiffs in medical liability cases may file suit in as many as five locations: where the individual may be served; where the cause of action arose; where a transaction or occurrence took place out of which the cause of action arose; where venue is authorized by law; or where the property or a part of the property, which is the subject matter of the action, is located provided that equitable relief is sought with respect to the property.

The repeal of Rule 1006(a.1)—coupled with the recent trend of nuclear verdicts in Philadelphia County and the Superior Court's precedential decision in Hangey v. Husqvarna Professional Products, 247 A.3d 1136 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2021), appeal granted, 278 A.3d 301 (Pa. 2022), holding that venue could lie over a defendant who does only 0.005% of its annual business in the forum—has raised concerns over a return of the medical liability crisis that led to the adoption of the Rule 1006(a.1) in the first place.