Latest Pennsylvania Headlines

All the headlines from our Pennsylvania Topic Page, ordered by recency.

PA Legislature Passes Med Mal Reform Bill

Mar 14 2002 // Three months of wrangling over reforming Pennsylvania’s medical malpractice insurance system may be at an end with the passage of House Bill 1802 by a 196 to 1 margin, following its unanimous approval in the...

PA Trial Lawyers Attack Medical Society Links with Med Mal Insurer

Mar 13 2002 // As the battle over medical malpractice insurance reform resumes in Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association (PTLA) issued a press release which revealed that the Pennsylvania Medical Society (PMS) controlled...

Efforts Continue on PA Med Mal Reform

Feb 18 2002 // While remaining optimistic that a solution to Pennsylvania’s medical malpractice insurance crisis would eventually be found, Governor Mark Schweiker admitted that after the failure of legislators to reach an...

PA Court Stays Asbestos Claims Against Dresser Industries

Feb 15 2002 // According to an announcement by Halliburton Co., Chief Judge Judith Fitzgerald of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Pennsylvania has issued a temporary restraining order staying more than 200,000 pending...

Penn Med Mal Reform Bill Stalls in House

Feb 14 2002 // Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives voted by a 148-51 margin to approve additional provisions to the Senate’s version of the medical malpractice reform bill, delaying passage of any measure until a...

Penn Court Approves PHICO Liquidation

Feb 4 2002 // Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner M. Diane Koken announced that the Commonwealth Court has granted her petition to enter an Order of Liquidation for PHICO Insurance Company of Mechanicsburg, effective...

Penn. Med Mal Reform Debate Heats Up

Jan 30 2002 // The controversy surrounding Pennsylvania’s ongoing medical malpractice crisis increased on Tuesday as some 700 physicians, healthcare professionals and patients demonstrated in favor of tort reform at the State...

Penn. Doctors, Patients Gather to Urge Med Mal Reform

Jan 22 2002 // Pennsylvania’s ongoing medical liability insurance crisis has generated a rare alliance between the State’s doctors, health care professionals and their patients, culminating in a gathering in Harrisburg,...

Penn. Ins Commissioner Inaugurates Insurance Information Week

Jan 15 2002 // Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Diane Koken announced the beginning of the State’s “Get Smart Week,” an awareness campaign aimed at helping consumers become more aware about their insurance policies...

IRMI Supports Penn. Lawyers; Insurers to Blame for Malpractice Cost Rise

Jan 3 2002 // The International Risk Management Institute (IRMI) has issued a statement supporting the contentions of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association(PaTLA) that the insurance industry’s own business practices are...

Governor Calls For Malpractice Reforms in Penna.

Dec 27 2001 // Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker called on the General Assembly to adopt strong reforms to curb the skyrocketing costs of medical-malpractice insurance and to address the diminishing availability of insurance. He also...

Penna. Auto Theft Prevention Authority Warns Holiday Shoppers

Dec 7 2001 // The Pennsylvania Auto Theft Prevention Authority (PATPA) warned holiday shoppers that “December and January are peak activity periods for car thieves.” Common sense measures like parking in well-lit areas,...

Prosecution Error Frees PA Insurance Fraud Couple

Nov 28 2001 // The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia has been forced to drop all charges against a Bucks County couple accused of hiring a handyman to burn down their luxury home and cars in order to obtain a $1.1 million...

Frank Bruckner Appointed to PA Insurance

Nov 14 2001 // Frank Bruckner of Pittsburgh has been appointed to a four-year term on the board of directors of Pennsylvania’s Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority (IFPA) by State Senator Robert J. Mellow. Bruckner replaces Walter...

The Battle For Reliance Assets Heats Up

Sep 30 2001 // The fight for Reliance Insurance Company’s (RIC’s) assets between the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance (PDI), which took over the failed insurer last June, and the creditors and investors of its parent...

Courts Continue to Reject Diminished Value Concept in Class Actions

Sep 5 2001 // In spite of an ongoing influx of litigation, U.S. courts continue to reject class-action lawsuits involving diminished value, a concept referring to the difference between the value of a vehicle before and after it was...

The Battle For Reliance Assets Heats Up

Sep 3 2001 // The fight for Reliance Insurance Company’s (RIC’s) assets between the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance (PDI), which took over the failed insurer last June, and the creditors and investors of its parent...

Battle for Reliance Assets Heats Up

Aug 27 2001 // The fight for Reliance Insurance Company’s (RIC) assets between the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance (PDI), which took over the failed insurer last June, and the creditors and investors of its parent company,...

New Funds Enable Insurance Department to Expand Prevention, Reporting Efforts

Aug 1 2001 // Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner M. Diane Koken announced expanded fraud-combating efforts supported by a recently received grant award. Commissioner Koken said the department recently received a two-year Pennsylvania...

Reliance Insurance 1817-2001 – R.I.P’

Jul 23 2001 // Reliance Group Holdings (RGH), the parent company of Reliance Insurance Company (RIC), one of America’s oldest insurers which traces its roots back to 1817, filed for bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of...