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A Jefferson County jury has found Christus St. Mary Hospital negligent in its treatment of a 41-year-old woman who died of a heart attack within hours of an emergency room visit. In the verdict, filed Jan. 21, the jury found that the Port Arthur hospital along with Dr. Michael Peterson committed "willful or wanton negligence," in their treatment of Stacy Meaux. The jury awarded a combined $1.3 million in damages to Meaux; her mother, Mary Ann, Licatino; and her two children. Limitations on the amount of money that can be awarded for mental anguish pain and medical malpractice will limit this to $250,000 per defendant. http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/community-%20news/mcc/local/St_Marys_found_negligent_in_death.html According to the Institute of Medicine, 98000 people die every year from PREVENTABLE medical errors, such as the one described above. That number does not reflect the number of people seriously injured. Preventable medical errors are the sixth leading cause of death in the US, the equivalent of two 737s crashing every day. Rather than putting limitations on the amount of money that can be sought from the families of these victims of those errors, which 30 states have done, would it not be more beneficial for everyone to reduce the number of medical malpractice lawsuit cases by reducing the number of medical errors? We need to be making strides in patient safety, not limiting the rights of patients who have been injured through no fault of their own. Tort law changes clearly won't fix health care. Please visit http://www.98000reasons.org/ for information on how you too can stand up for patient rights.
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