Have you ever thought about how much your life could change if your doctor didn’t diagnose you properly, prescribe the correct treatment or perform a procedure properly? If not, you might need to take a few minutes to think about that. While these incidents are fairly rare, they do occur.
There are some cases that involve medical malpractice and wrongful death. This is the case when a doctor or other medical professional’s actions lead to a patient’s death. When this occurs, the deceased person’s family has to decide what type of case is more appropriate.
A medical malpractice case comes with a cap limit. In California, the limit for a medical malpractice lawsuit is $250,000. This cap has led to some people opting to file a wrongful death lawsuit instead of a medical malpractice claim.
A wrongful death lawsuit seeks compensation from a party who was negligent or reckless in their actions in such a way that a person died. In the case of medical malpractice that led to wrongful death, the negligence could be missing a diagnosis, making a surgical error, prescribing an incorrect dosage of medication or a host of other issues.
If you lost a loved one to medical malpractice, you need to evaluate your options for seeking compensation. You can’t just base your decision on the claim amount. You also need to review the case to determine if the required elements are in place for the type of case that you want to file. Make sure that you don’t take too long to take action after the death since time limits apply.
Source: FindLaw, “Wrongful Death vs. Medical Malpractice,” accessed Sep. 15, 2017
