Malpractice at Kansas and Missouri health centers cost taxpayers $21 million since 2018

Community health centers around the country paid $410 million from 2018 to 2021 in 485 settlements or judgments over malpractice suits. The centers and their employees have immunity from medical malpractice lawsuits, meaning the federal government pays any settlements or court judgments.
Silvia Garcia’s 14-year-old son was left permanently disabled and in a wheelchair after a community health center doctor in New Mexico failed to diagnose his appendicitis despite his complaint of severe stomach pain. The teenager’s appendix ruptured before he could get to a hospital, and complications led to septic shock.

Akimbee Burns had a Pap smear at a community health center in Georgia that showed abnormal cells. But she was not told of the results. About eight months later, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes. She died within two years, at age 38.