Did you know that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the U.S.?
Yes, it’s that common!
While it’s hard to understand why the number of medical wrongful deaths keeps increasing, you can and should hold the hospital and negligent doctor responsible if it happens to a loved one. Losing someone due to medical malpractice entitles you to compensation for medical costs, funeral expenses, and even the emotional trauma.
A medical error occurs when the treatment plan of a physician or healthcare provider deviates from the established medical care standard and leaves a patient to suffer or die.
Important: The medical care standard depends on the physician’s training, the availability of treatment tools and medical resources, as well as the location of the patient. Therefore, each wrongful death claim regarding medical malpractice should be evaluated as a distinct case.
The following are the most common medical errors reported in wrongful death claims.
Sometimes, patients are diagnosed with an infection while they’re being treated for a different health condition. This is because hospital infections are contagious and easy to spread if proper precautionary measures are not taken.
While any patient can get a healthcare-associated infection, patients who recently had surgery, have been taking antibiotics, have central IV lines, or those on ventilator support are particularly at risk.
Diagnostic errors often result in the death of a patient. These may stem from delayed or mistaken diagnosis, incorrect use of tests, use of outdated tests, or delayed action on test results.
Careless operations or treatments, the use of wrong treatment methods, and medication errors, such as giving the wrong medication, administering the wrong dose, and giving medicine at the wrong time are all fatal medical errors.
Other medical errors that may result in a patient’s death include failure to provide preventative treatment, patient falls, and equipment failures, including that of hospital beds, call bells, and health monitoring devices.
When you lose a family member due to medical malpractice, you can work with a professional wrongful death attorney to identify the negligent parties and file a lawsuit against them. Healthcare providers and hospitals are obligated to take care of patients and not cause any harm to them.
Please note that hospitals may not be liable for the negligence of physicians who just work at and not for the hospital. You’ll have to share all the details with your attorney, as they will guide you on the best course of action.
In most states, the family of the deceased can take two types of legal actions: wrongful death claims and survivor actions.
A wrongful death claim requests compensation for financial and emotional losses incurred by the family members whereas, survivor actions seek compensation for the damages that the deceased might not have faced if they hadn’t died. The latter generally refers to medical expenses of the deceased before their death, compensation for their pain and suffering, loss of income, and funeral costs.
The compensation paid through a survivor action is given to the beneficiaries named in the deceased’s will. If there’s no will in the first place, the probate and wrongful death laws in the state will decide who will receive compensation.
On the other hand, compensation paid through a wrongful death claim is distributed among the beneficiaries whose names aren’t included in the will.
In some cases, the decision of compensation distribution is of the court. Age, legal capacity, relationship with the deceased, as well as debts against the estate are the top factors that the court takes into consideration when making the decision.
It’s crucial that you consult with an experienced wrongful death attorney right away after a family member or loved one dies a wrongful death. They’ll walk you through the entire process and tell you what to do and when while protecting your family’s financial interests.
