If you lose a loved one due to a hospital’s poor care, you have the right to file a wrongful death claim. Under California Code §377.60, state law entitles heirs, dependents, and estate representatives to pursue compensation for wrongful deaths.
A successful wrongful death claim eases your burden at a difficult time. As you struggle to cope with missing your loved one’s life, companionship, and income, wrongful death compensation helps your family stay stable.
Wrongful death compensation can include costs like funeral expenses, crematory/burial costs, and medical bills that built up before the victim’s passing. This can be tens of thousands of dollars your family shouldn’t have to spend under the circumstances.
Of course, it can be difficult to negotiate with a hospital and arrange an acceptable level of compensation. You might be ignored by the hospital administration, stonewalled by the insurance company, and disconnected from communication with the very doctors who treated your loved one.
How to Hold the Hospital Responsible for a Wrongful Death
Start by speaking to a California wrongful death lawyer who has extensive experience handling cases like yours. If your loved one died after a traffic accident when the hospital contributed to their death, the team at Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers might be a good fit for you.
You should know that hospitals can be held responsible when their employees fail to maintain a proper standard of care or commit negligent acts. If the person who treated your loved one was a non-employee or an outside independent contractor, it might be much more difficult or even impossible to hold the hospital responsible.
Your lawyer can help you examine the contracts involved with the doctors, nurses, and specialists who treated your loved one before their passing. Although it’s complicated to sort out the legal issues involved, a wrongful death lawyer knows many technical details that can make or break your case.
A wrongful death case can hinge on a legal detail like whether the hospital had control over the medical provider’s workspace and daily working conditions. It could also matter whether the healthcare provider properly acquired informed patient consent.
The Role of Insurance in a California Wrongful Death Claim
Hospitals hold huge insurance policies to handle situations like yours. Despite this, many healthcare providers resist paying large wrongful death claims until a lawyer gets involved.
The insurance companies are behind this trend because they want to minimize how much they pay in wrongful death claims. Your lawyer can help you look at the insurance that the hospital or any subcontractor may hold and pursue its maximum limits.
Common Situations Involving Hospital Wrongful Death Claims
Securing a successful wrongful death claim involves proving that certain hospital-related conditions led to your loved one’s untimely death. While this is a painful process, your lawyer can ease the burden by handling most of the legal details.
There are many situations when a wrongful death claim has a high chance of yielding a successful outcome. Do any of the circumstances below sound similar to what happened to your loved one? If so, talk to a wrongful death lawyer as soon as possible.
- Your loved one was misdiagnosed.
- Medication or treatment was administered improperly.
- There were no hospital employees available to help.
- The hospital was employing unsafe or incompetent employees.
- The care providers were insufficiently educated, trained, or licensed.
- A doctor, nurse, or specialist engaged in outright abusive or negligent behavior.
- Someone failed to consider your loved one’s symptoms or medical history.
- The environment was unsafe with poor lighting, safety features, sanitation, or flooring.
We’ll Help You Handle Your Wrongful Death Claim
If you believe the hospital is responsible for your wrongful death claim, contact the attorneys at Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers. We handle many areas of the law, including wrongful death claims. You deserve to focus on healing while we handle the legal details.
We truly care about the people of California. Contact us today for a free online case evaluation.
