The mother of a 15-year-old Columbia boy killed by medical blunders at a top S.C. hospital told state legislators Thursday that a few simple changes in the law could have saved her son -- and would save others, if the General Assembly would act.

"He died in his hospital bed because we were unable to get him a fully experienced doctor," said Helen Haskell, explaining that only doctors still undergoing training called residents were available.

Haskell asked the lawmakers to support a bill -- named the Lewis Blackman Hospital Patient Protection Act bill, after her son -- now in a House Judiciary subcommittee.

The bill's provisions require:

• Hospital staff to wear badges clearly stating their names, departments and status

• Hospitals to let patients know how to contact doctor and nurse supervisors

• Hospitals to inform patients that residents are treating them

• Board-certified doctors to see each patient at least once daily in a hospital

• Major hospitals with residency teaching programs to have a board-certified doctor present in the hospital at all times.

"Any one of them (the provisions) could have saved our boy's life," she said.

Haskell was joined by Jane Wiley, legislative director for AARP South Carolina,an advocacy group for people age 50 and older. It has 451,000 S.C. members.

"It's a reasonable bill that will protect a lot of people," said Wiley, saying the bill would be especially helpful for older people in hospitals.

Currently, many medical people wear badges, but often the description of residents makes them appear to be more experienced doctors.

Haskell's son, Lewis, a ninth-grader at Hammond in Columbia, underwent routine surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston in 2000. Afterward, as he worsened, nurses and residents insisted Lewis had nothing wrong with him.

Despite repeated requests over 30 hours, they refused to call a supervising doctor and allowed Haskell to think she was dealing with experienced physicians. An experienced doctor would have easily discovered Lewis was dying. Almost up until the hour he died, Lewis could have been saved -- if only the staff had summoned an experienced doctor as Lewis' mother wanted, according to experts familiar with the case.

MUSC's negligence was such that it paid Lewis' parents $950,000 without even going to trial. They are exploring ways to use the money for scholarships and to promote patient safety.

Bill sponsor Rep. James Smith, D-Richland, said he is trying to provide "additional information to patients." He said he has spent hours refining the bill with the S.C. Hospital Association and other medical authorities.

Elizabeth Powers of the S.C. Hospital Association told the subcommittee her group has concerns about the bill, but hopes to work with Smith for patient safety. She didn't specify concerns.

The Judiciary subcommittee appeared to be on the verge of passing the bill Thursday. However, after some members expressed concerns, the subcommittee agreed to meet again next week on the bill.

Rep. Alan Clemmons, R-Horry, said he worried the badges the bill would require would be too big and cumbersome. After the meeting, he also said he wants more information about the provision requiring some hospitals to have a more experienced doctor on hand at all times.

Clemmons said he wasn't trying to kill the bill -- only trying to make it as practical as possible without unduly burdening hospitals.

The committee also heard from Lynn Bailey, a medical expert who told the committee that a national study indicated that more than 1,000 people a year die each year in South Carolina because of medical errors.

"The human loss is significant," Bailey said.

University of South Carolina law professor Robin Wilson, who specializes in health care issues, told the subcommittee that studies show many people are confused in hospitals about the level of training that hospital staffers have.

Wilson said the bill would give basic information to patients and help prevent lawsuits and the "pointless loss of lives."

In recent months, medical mistakes such as Duke University Medical Center's failure to check blood types before a heart transplant have received increasing attention.

In South Carolina, hospitals and medical authorities generally try to keep mistakes that kill and injure people from public view, according to a State newspaper investigation last year. They have been known to avoid notifying county coroners when patients are killed. Until recently, when state and federal judges banned secret settlements in lawsuits, doctors and hospitals have used the courts to conceal the extent of deadly patient errors.