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The announcement of yet another round of fines against California hospitals for incidents that should never happen in a hospital emphasizes the need for state lawmakers to adopt tougher restrictions holding the health care industry more fully accountable for negligent acts.

The California Department of Public Health handed out the penalties for errors that “caused, or [were] likely to cause, serious injury or death to patients.” Two Bay Area patients died as a result of errors.

Los Angeles Times: A national report card gave nearly half of U.S. hospitals a grade of C of lower in patient safety.

The California Department of Public Health handed penalties to 14 hospitals for “noncompliance with licensing requirements [that] caused, or was likely to cause, serious injury or death to patients.”

Los Angeles Times: The hospital halted kidney transplants after the mistake was discovered. A Texas transplant surgeon says he “can’t even imagine” how the error could happen.

A two-year investigation by reporters Marshall Allen and Alex Richards found Las Vegas hospitals averaged more than one incident a day of “preventable injuries, life-threatening infections or other harm.”

It was ten years ago this month that the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies issued its landmark report, “To Err Is Human.” That report recommended a “four-tiered approach” for better hospital safety. Ten years later, experts say hospitals could be doing a lot better job of improving patient safety.