Does medical malpractice apply to fatal medical mistake cases?

On behalf of Eisenmenger, Robinson & Peters, P.A. posted in Wrongful Death on Wednesday, July 08, 2015.

A doctor is often a Florida resident’s best hope for finding the underlying cause of the person’s pain and suffering. Whether the individual has an infection, a broken bone, a significant disease or any medical ailment in between, he can often benefit from visiting a doctor and receiving treatments tailored to his particular health-related needs. Doctors are, however, human, and they do from time-to-time make mistakes. Some medical errors are relatively harmless, but others can pose life-threatening risks to the affected patients.

When a fatal accident happens to a patient under the care of a doctor or other medical personnel, claims based on medical malpractice may become available to the victim’s survivors. Medical malpractice claims involve proving a number of elements, including that the doctor or medical provider did not meet an acceptable standard of care in the treatment of the victim. A suing party generally must also prove that the victim’s harm arose from that doctor or medical provider’s deficiencies or mistakes.

When a patient dies in a fatal medical accident, closely related family members may be able to pursue civil litigation against the responsible party or parties. The loss of a loved one due to the negligence or recklessness of another party can give surviving relatives the right to pursue claims for a variety of damages including loss of companionship and loss of future earnings

A trip to the doctor’s office should result in the relief of pain and suffering for a patient. In some cases, a patient leaves his medical provider’s facility in worse shape than when he arrived. If medical malpractice claims the life of a victim, that individual’s family can seek compensation from the negligent medical practitioner for the losses related to their loved one’s death.

Tags: Wrongful death