Determining what is a wrongful death is not as simple as TV shows and novels would have you think. The laws are different in the 50 states, but they have much in common once that determination has been made. At its most basic, a wrongful death is one where a defendant causes the victim’s death, or is negligent in some specific manner that directly causes the death. The normal result of winning a wrongful death lawsuit is monetary damages. It is not always a clear-cut situation, but typically wrongful death lawsuits fall into a number of different categories.
Crime-related
Murder is a charge brought in a criminal trial, while wrongful death is a fact to be determined in a civil suit. In a famous example, O.J. Simpson was arrested for murder and tried in a California court. The state apparently did not satisfy the jury beyond a reasonable doubt, and he was acquitted. After this, however, the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman sued in civil court for wrongful death, in a proceeding that could award money damages but not incarcerate the defendant in prison. Rather than proof beyond a reasonable doubt, the standard of proof in a civil case is a preponderance of the evidence, which simply means the charge is more likely than not to be true. The civil jury found in favor of the families and ordered a damage payment of over $30 million.
Medical error
Doctors have high insurance premiums because medical error is a common type of wrongful death lawsuit. In medical error cases, doctors or other medical professionals must have performed in a clearly negligent manner while treating patients that die in their care. In many cases, physicians prescribe the wrong medicine or fail to correctly diagnose conditions. A victim’s family has to prove that this medical professional had the facts concerning the patient’s condition and failed treat it properly.
Toxic exposure
There are many recent instances where toxic exposure has killed people, whether it is from chemicals leaking into the groundwater from nearby manufacturing plants or from toxic materials in housing materials. Some toxic exposure cases overlap with product-related ones, as there are poisonous materials like polyvinyl chloride, asbestos, benzene and lead all around us, in products we use and the places we go.
Defective drugs
As opposed to malpractice, this medically related kind of wrongful death has become more common over the years. If drug manufacturers do not disclose possible harms they are aware of in their products, they can be subject to wrongful death suits. Even absent such behavior on their part, these kinds of cases can be brought if other forms of negligence can be demonstrated.
Product-related
If a consumer uses a product in the manner prescribed, but it ends up killing her, that is wrongful death, too. Pressing on a brake pedal is the way we all know how to stop a car, but if doing so does not work as it is supposed to, it can cause wrongful death. We have seen many instances recently of car manufacturing errors that seem to have caused any number of vehicle systems to fail. The manufacturer would be liable for any deaths occurring from these faulty systems. If it can be proven that the manufacturer did not know about the problems, there you have negligence. If it is shown that the car maker did know about the problem, but did nothing, that shows a callous disregard for life.
Automotive
In addition to car manufacturing problems, cars are also involved in accidents that can be classified as wrongful death if the driver was drunk, in a drugged stupor or operating the car in such a way that the accident and resulting death(s) were clearly her fault. Since a victim’s family needs to prove that a driver was behaving negligently, drunk drivers are obvious targets for wrongful death lawsuits when they cause fatal accidents.
Workplace
Workplace deaths are another common form of wrongful death lawsuit. In these instances, employers may be found liable for a wrongful death if they did not take appropriate safety measures in the workplace, or otherwise contributed to conditions that caused a fatal accident. There are important regulations that specify how work is to be done construction sites, chemical labs and offshore oil rigs, and when these regulations are skirted (or directly contravened) there is a good case for wrongful death.
Bottom line
Sometimes it is not clear what category some wrongful deaths fall in, so it is always wise to consult an attorney specializing in those cases. This is not an exhaustive list by any means, so you should always talk to a lawyer whenever any questionable death occurs among your family or loved ones.
At the Law Offices of Mickey Fine Law Firm in Manhattan Beach, California, we are los angeles personal injury lawyers that help clients who have been seriously injured due to the negligence of another party, and clients who have lost a family member in a tragic accident. We also help people whose insurance companies are denying or delaying payment of a legitimate claim.
