What are the legal remedies when a patient dies due to medical malpractice?

A study by the Institute of Medicine reveals that a staggering 440,000 people die every year due to hospital neglect or medical negligence on part of a doctor, nurse, care giver, or a health care organization. Medical malpractice lawyers and medical experts agree that these findings are in fact accurate and some of them believe the number has only been increasing with time despite advancements in medicine and medical technology in recent years.

In this article, we will take a look at legal options that a family or estate of a deceased victim of medical malpractice or hospital neglect has. Furthermore, the article will also briefly compare and contrast the differences between a wrongful death lawsuit and a survivor action.

Wrongful death actions

The family of a patient who died due to the medical negligence of a doctor or some other professional health care provider has the option of filing a civil medical malpractice lawsuit called a wrongful death lawsuit. According medical malpractice attorneys, the lawsuit serves to compensate the loved ones who have lost their family member to medical malpractice.

When the family of the deceased patient files a wrongful death lawsuit, it basically means that they find the following to be true:

• The defendant’s loved one passed away due to a medical error due to medical negligence and should not have happened
• The victim had close immediate family members
• The death of the victim resulted in certain economic and non-economic damages being inflicted upon the family members which are of a compensable nature
• The doctor or hospital is liable for what has happened and hence should pay to compensate the surviving family members

The main point to note about a wrongful death lawsuit is the fact that in such claims or lawsuits, the family is not seeking compensation for damages that was inflicted upon or suffered by the victim alone.

Nursing home abuse and medical malpractice lawyers reiterate that wrongful death lawsuits are generally meant to sue for damages such as loss of emotional support, loss of financial support, funeral costs, etc.

There was a movie called The Skeleton Key. In that movie Kate Hudson was hospice aid Caroline Ellis where she goes and takes care of an old man out in the Louisiana bayou. This medical care worker does not mistreat anyone. In this story, she is the one who is mistreated. The family takes advantage of her ignorance, tricks her, which ends up costing her her life. Her self-conscious goes into an older woman who will die soon while that older woman takes over her younger body. Luke Marshall is happy.

Luke Marshall and Violet Devereaux are the guilty folks in this story. They cannot be charged with medical malpractice but they can be charged with some sort of crime if what they did could be proven. Do not worry about this happening to you, this is fantasy and myth. If you have a medical malpractice issue, you need a medical malpractice lawyer.

Survivor actions

On the other hand, a second legal option for the surviving family would be to file a survivor action. The main difference between a wrongful death lawsuit and a survivor action is that in a survivor action the family sues on behalf of the deceased patient just like the patient could have done if he or she survived the malpractice. The suit also perpetuates that the negligent parties should not escape from liability simply because the patient is now dead and should compensate the patient’s family instead.

In some cases, a legal expert will suggest that you file both types of actions in order to reap maximum benefits to ensure that the defendants are properly penalized for their gross negligence. If you have lost someone due to a doctor’s or hospital’s negligence to talk to a hospital neglect or a medical malpractice lawyer today to find out how to go about filing and winning your medical malpractice lawsuit.

The Skeleton Key is myth. This website is not…Medical-Malpractice.USAttorneys. This website has saved real lives. Do not expect the hospital to help you out and screaming at everyone is not going to help. Start clicking and start calling.