March 12, 2009 Victims, activists take stand against medical errors Play video

(NECN: Latoyia Edwards, Boston, Mass.) - Massachusetts lawmakers considering several health care reform bills are hearing directly from state residents today. They are watching taped messages from patients whose lives have been changed by poor quality health care.

The lawmakers learned that medical errors injure about a million Americans each year.

The lawmakers viewed several videos about average Massachusetts residents who were either severely injured or lost their lives to these mistakes.

One woman who lost her father to medical errors says "only through vigilance can we prevent health care errors."

One estimate shows these errors cost taxpayers $30 million a year.