Joe Kiani: We could cut 180,000 preventable hospital deaths a year. Here’s exactly why we haven’t

Anders Pederson died trying to save his sister.

From the time Kelly was a toddler, Anders was her protector.

When she was just 15 months old, a serious illness damaged her kidneys.

Doctors warned the family that one day she might need a transplant.

Decades later, when Kelly turned 30 and her kidneys began to fail, Anders didn’t hesitate, he immediately volunteered to donate one of his.

The surgery was successful.

The next morning, Anders visited Kelly and told her donating his kidney had been the best day of his life.

But hours later, he began experiencing severe pain and vomiting.

His pain medication was changed, and warning signs went unnoticed.

When his mother returned to check on him, Anders’ hand was cold, his lips were blue, and he wasn’t breathing.

Anders fell into a coma and died nine days later.

The family was initially told his heart had simply stopped.

Only after pushing for answers did they learn the truth: a cascade of preventable failures, inadequate monitoring and medication management, had taken the life of a healthy young man who had just saved his sister.

Stories like Anders’ are not rare tragedies.