Medical error is third biggest cause of death in the US, experts say
Just an anecdote: Our friend in New Orleans had his wife's second baby delivery. They went to the same hospital and doctor as the first normal delivery.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.The amazing thing is that the state of Louisiana has a $500k limit on malpractice!  (Set in the 1970'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.This is called keeping costs down in the state of Louisiana. And this was affirmed in 2012 by their supreme court.