A Philadelphia jury awarded a $108.6 million verdict Thursday in a Philadelphia birth-injury case against Jefferson Health and a pediatric practice it acquired along with Einstein Healthcare Network.
The verdict is the biggest medical malpractice verdict in the city since a record-setting $183 million award against Penn Medicine three years ago involving a birth injury at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia juries have a reputation for awarding what are called “nuclear verdicts.” Though most trials end in a verdict in favor of healthcare providers, the threat of massive verdicts has become a significant worry for area health systems, especially those with large labor and delivery operations for maternity care…