Personal injury laws define a wrongful death as an avoidable fatality caused by another party’s direct or indirect actions. Actions associated with wrongful death include negligence, intentional acts, carelessness, or a direct criminal act. An attorney could provide help if you believe you have a wrongful death claim.
Understanding the Difference
The civil court manages wrongful death cases according to how liable the defendant is and how much compensation is possible. These cases aren’t the same as criminal cases where the court punishes the person with a prison sentence and orders restitution.
In criminal cases, the attorney must prove the defendant either deliberately murdered the victim or their actions caused the person’s death. In a civil case, the claimant must substantiate the allegations based on liability, and reasonable doubt metrics aren’t necessary.
How Did the Victim Die?
Introducing liability requires evidence showing how the victim died and how the defendant played a role in the fatality. Pathologists perform autopsies to define the exact cause of death. In the autopsy report, the pathologist defines what produced the person’s injuries and what injuries proved fatal.
For example, a person who died in an auto accident sustained injuries that proved fatal. The wrongful death claim must show the accident wasn’t just an unfortunate event to establish liability for the fatality. For instance, the responsible driver’s intoxication must have caused the accident and consequently caused the victim’s death. Driving under the influence would make the accountable driver liable for the fatality because they broke the law.
Events Leading to Wrongful Death
Prevailing circumstances causing wrongful deaths in the medical industry are failures to disclose all surgical or treatment risks, undertrained staff, and inconsistencies in medical charts or records.
By law, surgeons and doctors must disclose the full health risks for all treatments or surgeries before securing patient consent. All medical workers must complete medical training for their field before treating patients and obtain critical information from patients before they provide treatment.
In manufacturing, product liability claims emerge when manufacturers release risky products to the public without adequately testing the products. The absence of warning labels also presents liabilities for these manufacturers.
Proving Wrongful Death
Evidentiary support for a wrongful death claim includes medical records, an autopsy report, testimony from witnesses, statements from expert witnesses, and financial statements from the family. Attorneys collect evidence according to the fatality’s circumstances. For example, the claim states the victim’s doctor provided the wrong treatment, causing their condition to worsen.
The claimant needs medical records showing the victim’s health declining, and witnesses must testify that the doctor refused a different or better treatment. The combination of all evidence must prove the defendant is liable and, therefore, directly or indirectly caused the person’s death.
Wrongful death claims help families seek monetary compensation for a loved one’s death. These claimants must prove that the defendant was liable to win. The amount of damages depends on the family’s financial losses related to this fatality. Contact an attorney for a consultation if you believe you have a viable wrongful death claim.
