If you recently lost a loved one due to a medical mistake at a New York hospital, you might be considering filing a wrongful death claim. Your loved one went to the hospital for medical treatment. If they died as a result of negligent care, a wrongful death claim may be able to seek justice and accountability from the hospital and the healthcare provider who caused your loved one’s death.
The compassionate wrongful death attorneys at Powers & Santola, LLP can guide you through this difficult time, fighting for the justice you deserve while giving you the space and time you need to grieve. Contact us today to learn more about your legal rights and options following a death caused by hospital negligence.
How Can Powers & Santola, LLP Help with Wrongful Death Claims?
Medical providers owe it to their patients to provide services consistent with their education, training, experience, and medical standard of care. When they violate their primary duty to do no harm, they should be held accountable for their actions. However, all too often, medical malpractice insurance companies and aggressive defense attorneys try to prevent grieving families from getting the justice and financial accountability they deserve after a negligent party kills their loved one.
Our skilled attorneys help level the playing field and protect your rights when dealing with aggressive insurance companies who only care about protecting their profits. When you hire a personal injury attorney with Powers & Santola, you get:
- Knowledge of the claims process and New York wrongful death laws – Our attorneys can explain the New York wrongful death statute and how it may apply to you. We can conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding your loved one’s death and explain if you have a viable claim based on medical negligence.
- A dedicated team – Our experienced attorneys and support staff get to work immediately on your claim, gathering critical evidence, interviewing witnesses, and consulting medical experts to determine how medical malpractice caused your loved one’s death. When insurance companies know we are on the case, they know the claim is meritorious and we are serious about securing fair compensation for our clients.
- The benefit of decades of experience – For over 30 years, our personal injury and medical malpractice attorneys have fought to protect the rights of the injured.
- An accurate claim valuation – Our skilled attorneys know you were not expecting this tragic loss. We use our in-depth understanding of New York’s wrongful death laws to determine every type of damage you are eligible for and fight tirelessly to recover it. Our legal team can assess the full extent of your family’s losses, including medical expenses, funeral costs, burial expenses, lost income, and more, to estimate the value of your claim so you can make informed decisions about whether to settle your case or proceed to trial.
- Ongoing support – You will be in trusted hands when you have a wrongful death lawyer from Powers & Santola. We understand your tremendous loss and will do everything we can to ease your burden. We handle communication with the insurance company and the administrative workload so you do not have to. We can also guide you through each decision, being your trusted advocate at every phase of your case.
You can speak with a personal injury lawyer from our firm during a free, no-obligation consultation. Call us today to learn more.
What Is Wrongful Death?
New York’s wrongful death statute explains that when a person dies due to a wrongful act, neglect, or default that would have given them grounds to file a personal injury case against the defendant, their estate can file a wrongful death claim.
Wrongful death cases are filed in civil court. Unlike criminal cases that seek to punish someone who has violated a criminal statute, civil cases are focused on providing a financial remedy. Through a wrongful death claim, your family may be able to receive a financial award to compensate for some of the economic losses you’ve experienced as a result of your loved one’s premature death and get a sense of accountability.
A wrongful death attorney can evaluate the circumstances surrounding your loved one’s death at a New York hospital and determine if you have legal grounds to file a wrongful death case.
Common Causes of Wrongful Death in Hospital Settings
Wrongful deaths occur at hospitals for various reasons. Often, hospitals are understaffed, hectic environments. Healthcare providers may make mistakes that jeopardize the health and safety of their patients, such as:
- Diagnostic errors – Medical professionals may misdiagnose patients or delay a diagnosis, not recognizing their error until it is too late.
- Emergency room malpractice – Emergency rooms may be understaffed or may not provide enough attention to a patient, resulting in fatal consequences.
- Anesthesiology errors – An anesthesia error can result in a patient’s death when the anesthesiologist administers too much medication or gives the patient the wrong type of anesthesia.
- Medication errors – Some medication mistakes have deadly consequences.
- Surgical errors – Surgeons at a hospital may make a critical mistake during a medical procedure, resulting in a patient’s death.
- Negligent supervision – Hospitals are responsible for implementing protocols to protect patient safety. If they fail to properly monitor patients or their staff, they may be liable for the resulting death.
If you suspect any of these medical errors may have contributed to your loved one’s death, an experienced medical malpractice lawyer from our law firm can review your case.
What Do I Have to Prove in a Hospital Malpractice Case?
To establish a wrongful death claim based on hospital malpractice, you must be able to prove the following legal elements:
- The hospital has a duty of care to your loved one. This is the duty to provide medical care consistent with established medical standards.
- The hospital breached the duty of care. The hospital did something or failed to do something that violated the standard of care.
- The breach caused your loved one’s death. Often, you will need a medical expert to testify about how the hospital’s breach of the duty of care resulted in your loved one’s death.
- You suffered damages due to your loved one’s death. For example, you were financially dependent on your loved one and now cannot support yourself.
Our experienced legal team can walk through this legal analysis and explain if you have a viable wrongful death claim.
What Can I Recover in Wrongful Death Compensation?
Under New York law, wrongful death actions can seek compensation from the negligent party for the following losses:
- Medical expenses for your loved one’s final illness or injury
- Funeral expenses
- Burial costs
- Lost wages
- Loss of consortium
- Loss of parental guidance
Notably, New York wrongful death laws do not allow surviving family members to recover compensation for their own pain and suffering, grief, or emotional distress. The personal representative may be able to make a separate legal claim for the conscious pain and suffering the decedent suffered between the time of the injury and death.
New York’s wrongful death statute also specifically provides for the award of punitive damages, which are intended to punish the wrongdoer rather than compensate the victim or their family.
An experienced wrongful death lawyer can evaluate your case to identify which damages you can seek as part of your legal claim.
What Is My Wrongful Death Claim Worth?
Every wrongful death case is unique, so there’s no average amount you can expect for a settlement. Specific factors that can potentially affect the value of your claim include:
- Your loved one’s life expectancy before the act of medical malpractice
- Your loved one’s potential earnings and work life
- The costs associated with caring for your loved one before death
- The funeral costs and burial expenses you paid
- Your relationship and financial dependence on your loved one
Additionally, New York law allows factfinders to consider the amount of income tax your loved one would have had to pay when calculating compensation for wrongful death cases.
Who Brings Wrongful Death Cases in New York?
Only the decedent’s personal representative can bring a wrongful death claim. If the executor appointed under the will refuses to file a wrongful death action, those who stand to inherit from the deceased person can ask the court to appoint an administrator to file the action on their behalf.
Who Receives Compensation in New York Wrongful Death Cases?
Even though the personal representative files the wrongful death action, they do so for the benefit of the distributees, who are the people who stand to inherit under the state’s laws of intestacy. This includes the surviving spouse, children, and parents of the decedent.
A distributee can ask the court to have a hearing to determine the pecuniary losses of each affected family member. The court calculates each party’s losses and distributes the proceeds of a wrongful death verdict or settlement according to these proportions.
Dealing with Insurance Companies During Wrongful Death Claims
Unfortunately, you will not be met with compassion and concern from insurance companies following a wrongful death. Instead, these companies hire aggressive insurance adjusters who needlessly deny claims or attempt to reduce their value. They are focused on protecting the profitability of their employer, not on helping your family during this difficult time.
Some of the tactics you can expect from insurance companies during a wrongful death claim include:
- Delaying the claims process – Insurance companies might request exhaustive documentation, require a long investigative period, take a long time to follow up with you after a claim or phone call or use other tactics to delay the claims process. These tactics are intended to frustrate you and get you to abandon your legal right to recovery.
- Blaming pre-existing conditions – The insurance company may try to blame your loved one’s previous health conditions for their death. They may try to argue that something was obviously wrong with your loved one if they were being treated at the hospital, blaming this condition instead of the healthcare provider’s negligence.
- Disputing liability – The insurance company might try to shift blame onto other medical professionals or parties rather than on their insured. This puts the burden on you to establish a direct link between the insured’s misconduct and your loved one’s death.
- Making low settlement offers – Insurance companies want to protect their profit margins, so they often try to settle claims for much less than they are worth. They hope grieving families will be desperate enough to accept whatever they offer and not fight for what they’re entitled to.
These frustrations can be overwhelming to deal with when you’re already struggling with an unexpected death in the family. An experienced lawyer can safeguard your rights during the claim process and handle insurance companies so you can focus on healing.
What Is the Statute of Limitations for New York Wrongful Death Claims?
New York’s statute of limitations requires most wrongful death claims to be filed within two years of the decedent’s death. However, if the death occurred at a public hospital in New York, special notice requirements may apply that mandate you file notice within three months of the death. If you miss the relevant deadline, you can forfeit your right to file a wrongful death claim. Safeguard your rights by speaking to an experienced wrongful death lawyer today.
Contact Our Law Firm Today for a Free Initial Consultation
If you have lost a loved one due to a hospital’s negligence, the experienced wrongful death attorneys at Powers & Santola, LLP can help. Let us handle insurance companies and the administrative workload while you focus on your recovery. Contact us today for a free case review.
