$25,000 ou La Litote

Comment se fait-il qu'en lisant l'article cité ci-dessous, j'ai pensé tout d'abord à Corneille, à cette litote célèbre de sa Chimène?

Qu'est-ce que c'est, une litote?

Selon un certain D. Fontaine: "Affaiblir une expression pour lui donner davantage de force." Supposément une figure de style délicate... ici cela me semble aussi délicat qu'un marteau. "Shoddy care"? $25,000?

"Va, je ne te hais point."

California fines 18 hospitals for shoddy care
Published: 8/19/08, 9:46 AM EDT
By SHAYA TAYEFE MOHAJERLOS ANGELES (AP) - Eighteen hospitals in California were fined for state health code violations in which patients died from various mishaps such as an improperly inserted tube and a ventilator that wasn't turned on. Other violations include surgical tools left inside patients after surgery.

The fines made public Monday stem from investigations by the California Department of Public Health that found shoddy care had either killed or endangered the lives of several patients. The hospitals were each fined $25,000 - the latest of dozens of penalties the state has issued in recent years to more than 40 hospitals.

Kathleen Billingsley, director of the health department's Center for Healthcare Quality [said,] "The entire intent of these fines is to improve the overall quality of care in California."

The report detailed a death at a La Mesa hospital in which a worker failed to turn on a ventilator for a patient who was being transferred....