People trust doctors to be competent enough to diagnose and treat their medical conditions. They rely on professionals to diagnose their conditions and recommend the right type of treatment.
Unfortunately, medical errors remain a common issue in the United States. In some cases, mistakes made by health care professionals can eventually cost people their lives. The state allows those who have lost a loved one to file a wrongful death lawsuit if there is proof of negligence or overt misconduct.
Can families pursue wrongful death lawsuits against health care facilities or professionals?
Medical negligence can cause preventable deaths
There are many scenarios in which families may have evidence that poor medical practices directly contributed to the death of a loved one. For example, a postmortem examination may have exposed a loved one’s undiagnosed lymphoma.
They may have gone to the doctor complaining of symptoms, only to get turned away without a diagnosis. When doctors rush through the diagnostic process or fail to order tests to validate the cause of a patient’s symptoms, their conduct could constitute negligence.
When it is clear that another competent professional could have identified the underlying cause of a patient’s symptoms or ordered tests that could have led to an accurate diagnosis, family members may have grounds for a wrongful death lawsuit brought on the basis of medical negligence. Errors during medication administration or never events during surgery could also provide the basis for a claim of medical negligence leading to death.
Families may need help reviewing medical records and preparing for wrongful death litigation, and that’s okay. Seeking personalized legal guidance is always an option. Holding health care providers responsible for poor care practices can compensate families struggling to adjust to life after the loss of a loved one.