Death is a natural phenomenon that everyone gets to experience eventually. People like to live a long and fulfilling life, sharing their highs and lows with everyone they love. But what happens if death finds someone because someone was careless?
Sounds infuriating, right?
This is why there are laws in place to punish the negligent. Personal injury law protects the rights of all those who have been injured due to someone else’s negligence. Medical malpractice is a part of personal injury law that aims to protect the rights of those who’ve suffered injustice at the hands of medical professionals.
But victims cannot handle medical malpractice cases on their own. They will need the assistance of experienced legal professionals, like the medical malpractice lawyers from Crandall & Pera Law to understand the complications and get you fair compensation.
When you talk about medical malpractice, the following cases are usually discussed:
- Misdiagnosis
- Delayed diagnosis
- Leaving a foreign object after a medical procedure
- Wrongly administering medication
- Injuries during childbirth
- Surgical errors
- Failure to warn the patient of potential risks
- Anesthesia errors
All these errors have the tendency to cause health conditions that can cause serious harm to the victim. In some cases, the victim may succumb to the health condition that was a result of the negligent action.
So what do you do in such situations?
Medical Malpractice and Wrongful Death
A wrongful death case arises when an individual loses their life due to the negligence of another person. These are commonly seen in car, truck, and motorcycle accidents. For auto accidents, the survivors (near and dear ones of the deceased) will have to approach the court and prove the following:
- The at-fault party owed a duty of care
- The at-fault party breached the duty of care
- The breach caused the accident
- The accident cost the victim’s life
This is the norm for wrongful death in personal injury cases.
There are slight variations for this in a medical malpractice claim. As the burden of proof is on the survivors or the victim’s estate, they will be expected to prove that
- The medical practitioner exhibited a standard of care that was lower than what was expected of them
- The reduced standard of care worsened the victim’s health, leading to their death
Liable Parties
There may be more than one liable party in a wrongful death lawsuit. The following are the most common ones:
- The hospital
- A doctor
- A nurse
- A surgeon
- A medical staff member who offered assistance for treatment or surgery
- A pharmacist who misread the prescription
A nurse who administered the wrong or incorrect amount of medication
