Along these same lines, it seems to me that patients in the US can rarely afford the exorbitant and escalating cost of medical care, so with increasing frequency they expend considerable effort trying to identify any possible error that they think could get them a break on their bill or enough of a legal case to give them a fighting shot at beating medical bankruptcy.

I have personal knowledge ofcases with acknowledged errors and apologies that have also resulted in the hospital eating the full cost of care.