Wrongful Death
Wrongful death is unfair, unforgiving, and permanently changes the lives of the victim’s family and friends. Tragic for families and friends, wrongful death is when a person dies due to the negligent or wrongful actions of a healthcare provider or medical facility. If your loved one was wrongfully killed by negligent medical professionals, you have a right to seek compensation for damages, pain, and suffering.
Learn more about the causes and common types of wrongful death and how our lawyers can help maximize your recovery.
Causes of Wrongful Death
Most often, wrongful death occurs during surgery or emergency events, but it can happen anywhere where someone dies due to the negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct of another party.
There are several causes for wrongful death, including:
- Surgical errors
- Wrong-site surgery
- Intraoperative complications
- Medication errors
- Incorrect or conflicting dosages
- Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis
- Anesthesia errors
- Failure to monitor anesthesia during surgery
- Birth injuries
- Failure to respond to fetal distress
- Inadequate neonatal care
- Infections
- Failure to treat infections
- Hospital-acquired infections
- Negligent postoperative care
- Miscommunication between healthcare providers
- Failure of medical equipment
Implications of Wrongful Death
Wrongful death affects families emotionally, physically, and financially. Implications for families include:
- Emotional Trauma. Losing a family member is highly challenging, especially when the death was avoidable. Families cope with the loss of a companion, balance feelings of grief, anger, or sadness, and overcome mental health challenges like depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
- Financial Damages. After the passing of a loved one, the family may experience loss of financial support, funeral and burial costs, and unpaid medical bills. Economic damages add to the family’s stress, pain, and suffering.
- Relationship Changes. Death can drastically impact family dynamics. Children lose a parent, parents lose a child, and everyone must fill new roles and responsibilities. The financial, emotional, and psychological stress can strain family relationships and cause even more challenges.
- Legal Challenges. After a wrongful death, the victim’s family can file a lawsuit to receive compensation. While a lawyer will help you navigate complex legal matters, like managing estates and holding negligent parties accountable, the process can be time-consuming and demanding.
Navigating wrongful death can be hard, stressful, and emotional for families. Seeking support from grief counselors, legal professionals, and community members can help families cope and rebuild their lives. While counseling, therapy, and legal recovery can help manage some challenges, the loss of a loved one never goes away.
Recovery for Wrongful Death
Recovery from wrongful death ranges depending on severity, accountable parties, and complications. If you’ve been injured, you have a right to seek compensation. An experienced lawyer can help you maximize compensation.
Damages awarded typically include:
- Workers’ compensation benefits
- Lost wages
- Funeral expenses
- Final medical bills
- Pain and suffering
Who is Responsible?
Preventing wrongful death involves a combination of safety measures, training, and following regulations. Medical providers should conduct risk assessments, implement safety guidelines, and provide appropriate training to reduce the risk of medical malpractice. Medical providers can be held responsible if they do not take these steps to protect patients.
When wrongful deaths result from negligence, seeking legal help is vital to hold them responsible.
If no one is responsible, you can still recover damages from workers’ compensation.
How We Can Help
If you or a loved one has experienced complications from an injury, Golitko & Daly can help. Our experienced medical malpractice lawyers fight for the compensation you deserve and hold the responsible parties accountable.
To schedule a free consultation, call us at 317-566-9600 (Indianapolis), 765-865-9300 (Bloomington), or 812-566-2600 (Kokomo), or complete our online inquiry form to schedule an appointment* with one of our medical malpractice attorneys who will review your case.