Medical error is third biggest cause of death in the US, experts say
Just an anecdote: Our friend in New Orleans had his wife&#x27;s second baby delivery. They went to the same hospital and doctor as the first normal delivery.<p>She was given the wrong medicine in the epidural. She went into a coma, the hospital flew her to a specialty hospital in Denver to recover. Almost a year later she is still paralyzed from the waist down. Her life is ruined, her husband has two babies to take care of and an infirm wife.<p>The amazing thing is that the state of Louisiana has a $500k limit on malpractice!  (Set in the 1970&#x27;s) Plus he will not get the full $500k. In spite of their clear error the hospital will not just settle out of court. Instead if they pay out through the court system they only have to pay $100k, the rest comes from the state patient compensation fund which has $900 million dollars stored up. So my friend will get $350k and medical care for his wife.<p>This is called keeping costs down in the state of Louisiana. And this was affirmed in 2012 by their supreme court.