> somehow they couldn't show my wife the forms that waived her right to sue the hospital, her agreement to pay whatever they billed her regardless of correctness of timeliness

This really ought to be illegal. It's continually amazing how the US has seemingly no effective consumer rights organisations.

That would erode rugged individualism though, right?

There hasn't really been a time when that wasn't the primary purpose of the legal system

> they billed her regardless of correctness of timeliness until she was dilated to an 8.

This has to be contestable in court

I had faith in the legal system to a degree as well before my experiences started. The doctors have more expensive lawyers and theirs and the hospital's insurance and business lobbies have succeeded in getting legal conditions set in their favor. Low award caps making contingency unavailable to clients, short statutes of limitations etc. It's why surgery centers often cluster in certain counties etc. Those places have more amenable courts and juries. It's a LOT harder than people think from TV etc to win at a malpractice case. There are doctors who have negligently killed people still doing surgeries etc and in one case I read the hospital isn't legally allowed to inform patients of his censure and past.

In my opinion it was, and I tried to get that far at which point they invested in doing it correctly just in time, such that they legally charged us correctly before state law required them to and thus our claims could no longer be tried in court. I might be tempted to fight them on it, but then I might give up when I get sent a letter from a lawyer referencing the contract with my wife's signature. Few people I think would then hire their own lawyer to fight the legality of a contract you did sign. It's all about getting people to just pay to make it go away without them trying very hard. And if someone wants to take it to court, okay we'll do it correctly. Same as plea deals: most people don't exercise their right to a jury because they choose between their constitutional right + exaggerated threats and just accepting a plea deal.

I know of a doctor in my area who has nearly killed several patients. One of these patients I know personally and they confided to me that they looked and looked for a lawyer but couldn't find one who would take their case.

I am sure being on a fixed income influences the types of lawyers one has access to and the distance that is affordable to travel. Nonetheless, I found the whole situation appalling. If patients are unable to sue physicians who are incompetent, these incompetent physicians will simply hurt more and more people.