Leveling the Field between Injured Iowans and Insurance Companies.

15 Year Old Seattle, Washington Boy Dies After Children's Hospital Gives Him a Drug Overdose

The unfortunate death of a 15 year old boy from Seattle, Washington, named Michael Blankenship, is a perfect example as to why medical providers should be liable for their mistakes.  While the medical staff at Seattle's Children's Hospital certainly did not intentionally mean to overdose Michael, placing a fentanyl patch of the highest dosage available on a 15 year old who had some dental work seems extreme to even to the average American with no medical training.  Statistically, medical mistakes are the 3rd leading cause of death in the United States with 44,000 to 98,000 deaths annually from medical errors.  (Institute of Medicine).  There are usually more than 7,000 deaths each year caused by medication errors alone.  (Institute of Medicine). 

Some people believe it is wrong to pay the family of children killed by medication errors.  However, if a hospital is not held accountable and required to pay the full value for the death they caused then where is the personal responsibility?  The civil justice system is not only designed to compensate family members for the death of their loved one caused by negligence, but to also deter and punish the negligent party.  Michael's family deserves to receive full compensation and full justice for their loss.  If jurors like the hospital and decide to only give his family half the compensation they are requesting, then his family will only receive half justice, which leaves them with half injustice. 

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