Filing a Wrongful Death Claim After an Act of Medical Malpractice

Any type of negligence can end a victim’s life. When this happens, the victim’s loved ones can file a wrongful death claim to pursue compensation for their damages related to the loss, such as their emotional trauma and the loss of the victim’s companionship.

Losing a loved one to an act of medical malpractice can be particularly devastating because we trust doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers to always act in our best interest. But healthcare providers are human, and humans can make mistakes. When preventable mistakes occur and cause harm to the patient, the healthcare provider may be liable for the patient’s – or in cases where the patient dies, the patient’s estate and loved ones’ – damages.

Which Types of Malpractice can Cause a Patient’s Death?

Many different types of mistake can harm a patient in a medical setting. Examples include:

• Failing to properly sterilize surgical equipment or the room where surgery is performed, putting the patient at risk of developing an infection after surgery;
• Medication errors. These include prescribing the wrong medication for a patient’s condition, giving the patient too much or too little of his or her medication, mixing up different patients’ prescriptions, or failing to consider the relevant facts about a patient, such as his or her medical history and allergies, when prescribing medication to him or her;
• Giving the patient too much anesthesia during surgery;
• Failing to follow up with a patient after medical treatment;
• Failing to order the necessary tests to accurately diagnose a patient’s prescription;
• Diagnosing a patient’s condition incorrectly or failing to diagnose it when it reasonably could have been diagnosed; and
• Leaving surgical equipment inside a patient’s body after the surgery is complete.

Another type of medical malpractice is performing medical treatments without first obtaining the patient’s informed consent. In most cases, patients must be fully informed about the potential complications and side effects of a treatment before the treatment can commence. If a patient dies after receiving treatment he or she might have opted not to receive after being educated about its potential complications, the patient’s loved ones may have grounds for a medical malpractice claim.

The Statute of Limitations for a Medical Malpractice-related Wrongful Death Claim

In Florida, the statute of limitations for a wrongful death claim is two years from the date of the victim’s death. This is also the statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims. When a victim dies because of an act of negligence on the part of a healthcare provider, his or her loved ones have only two years to seek compensation for their related damages.

Draper Law Office can Represent your Wrongful Death Claim

If you have lost a loved one because of a healthcare provider’s negligence, you have the right to seek compensation for your related damages through a wrongful death claim. To learn more about pursuing a wrongful death claim, contact Draper Law Office online or by calling us at 866-767-4711 today to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation in one of our two convenient office locations: Kissimmee, and Orlando.