Can You File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit if the Death Occurred Due to a Medical Mistake?

Tragically, mothers may die, fetuses may be born stillborn, and babies may never make it out of the hospital because of medical malpractice. Many people of all ages may die because doctors fail to diagnose their health disorder or delay the diagnosis. Medical errors that may be fatal include surgical or anesthesia mistakes, the failure to treat infections, medication mistakes, and other types of medical malpractice.

Generally, if your loved one dies due to any type of medical malpractice, you have the right to file a wrongful death claim against the responsible healthcare providers.

Who can file a wrongful death claim in Seattle, Washington?

Washington law, RCW 4.20.010, provides that the personal representative of the estate of anyone who dies due to the “wrongful act, neglect, or default of another person” can file a wrongful death claim against the person who causes the death of that person. There is no need to show that the defendants (the healthcare providers) are criminally liable. A wrongful death claim is a civil claim.

The beneficiaries of the wrongful death claim, according to RCW 4.20.020, include:

• The spouse of the patient
• A state-registered domestic partner of the patient who dies due to medical malpractice
• The child/children (including stepchildren) of the patient

If none of the three categories of beneficiaries exist, the beneficiaries in the wrongful death claim include the parents and siblings of the deceased.

Who can be held liable for the wrongful death of a patient in Seattle?

The responsible healthcare providers when a patient dies due to medical mistakes may include:

• Individual medical providers. These defendants may include physicians, anesthesiologists, nurses, lab technicians, and pharmacists. Physicians include family doctors and all types of specialists, including obstetricians, surgeons, cardiologists, oncology doctors, and other specialists.
• Hospitals and medical facilities. Hospitals may be liable for the medical mistakes of their employees. They may also be liable for the wrongful death of a patient for many other reasons, such as insufficient staffing levels, lack of up-to-date equipment, and more.
• Pharmacists may be liable because they fill a prescription improperly, fail to consider the drug interactions, fail to advise the patient of the reasonably likely side effects, and for other reasons.
• Pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers. These companies may be liable if their drugs are defective due to poor design, manufacture, instructions, or inadequate warnings.
• Nursing homes. These long-term facilities may be liable for deaths that occur due to improper medical care, such as failure to recognize that a resident is having a stroke.

Other medical malpractice defendants may include clinics, ambulatory surgery centers, and other medical facilities.

What damages can victims receive if a patient dies due to medical malpractice in Seattle?

In every such action, the trier of fact (typically, a jury) may give such damages as, under all circumstances of the case, the trier of fact finds to be “just.”

Generally, in wrongful death cases, our Seattle medical malpractice lawyers demand compensation for the following damages to date and future damages:

• All of the patient’s medical bills, which include emergency transportation bills, ER care, hospitalizations, surgeries, physician bills, medications, and all the other costs of diagnosing and treating the patient before they die.
• The funeral and burial costs.
• The loss of financial support that the deceased patient would have provided each beneficiary.
• The loss of personal support, including guidance, love, and comfort the deceased patient would have provided each beneficiary.
• The value of the services, such as household chores, that the deceased patient would have provided to the family members.

What are the unique challenges in filing a wrongful death claim based on medical malpractice?

The main challenge in a wrongful death case due to medical malpractice is that the patient is not alive to present their version of what happened to them – their pain, the lack of communication with their providers, the lack of physical care, and everything they knew that would have affected their medical malpractice claim if they had survived.

At Smith McBroom, we request all medical records and question everyone involved to show why the death of your loved one was preventable. We work with our network of doctors to show that these providers owed your loved one a duty of medical care, that your medical providers failed to deliver competent medical care, and that the lack of competent medical care was the cause of the death of your family member.

Washington state does have special procedures for filing medical malpractice claims that are different than the procedures for filing other types of personal injury claims:

• Generally, before a wrongful death claim can be heard in a Washington Superior Court, medical malpractice claims must be submitted for mandatory mediation.
• The statute of limitations for filing a medical malpractice claim is three years from the date of the medical mistakes. If the injuries or illnesses were not immediately clear, the statute of limitations generally is one year from the date the injury was discovered or should have been discovered to file their claim.

At Smith McBroom, we have been strong advocates for patients and families since 2002. Former clients, the insurance industry, and the legal community respect us for our dedication to our clients and our impressive record of verdicts and settlements. Contact us today to schedule your free evaluation.