The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that evidence of the risks and complications associated with surgical procedures can be admissible in medical negligence cases.

In a June 18 opinion in Mitchell v. Shikora, the high court unanimously ruled that such evidence could be admissible in certain cases. The justices were split 5-2, however, with regard to whether such evidence should have been allowed in the Mitchell case specifically, with the majority reversing a Superior Court ruling that found an Allegheny County trial judge had improperly allowed jurors to hear about the risks and complications of a hysterectomy.