People who don’t receive adequate or appropriate medical care when they seek it out might end up suffering harm. When the person survives the harm, he or she might decide to seek out compensation through a medical malpractice lawsuit. If the person dies as a result of the improper medical care, a wrongful death lawsuit might be in order.
The family members of the person who died might decide to take this legal action. There are some very specific criteria that must be met if a wrongful death claim is going to be launched. It is imperative that all of these points are present in the case or else it might be found invalid by the court.
The first that has to be true in the case is that the victim who died must have been a human. You can’t file a wrongful death lawsuit is your dog died because the veterinarian didn’t handle the care appropriately.
The victim had to have died because of the negligence, recklessness or intentional actions of another person. In the case of a medical malpractice case, this would be the action or inaction of the medical professional.
The loved ones who are left behind have to suffer a financial loss because of the death. This can be from the person’s income stopping and because of the cost of final expenses.
Finally, there has to be someone named as personal representative over the person’s estate. If an administrator is named in the will, this is sufficient. This is so that the estate can make the wrongful death claim on behalf of the decedent.
Source: FindLaw, “Wrongful Death Overview,” accessed June 08, 2018
