In that case, the loved ones of the deceased patient might be able to charge the doctor with contributing to a wrongful death.
The job facing those loved ones is to prove that the doctor was at fault. In other words, show that an unreasonable action or decision on the doctor’s part caused the patient’s death. It becomes important to learn and follow the state’s medical malpractice rules.
Special challenges that would be faced by the same party of loved ones
Working with a Personal Injury Lawyer in Sydney, with the intention of finding an expert that can testify, and confirm the allegations about negligence on the doctor’s part.
• It is important to prove that the doctor’s substandard care caused the death of the now-deceased patient.
• Lay out for the court the damages, and be able to explain each of them.
• Had the deceased patient been contributing to the funds that allowed certain family members to cover their living expenses?
• Had members of the family lost a source of companionship, following the death of the deceased loved one?
• Had members of the family struggled to deal with their grief; had they felt compelled to visit a grief counselor?
• What had been the cost of the funeral/burial?
Be prepared for the fact that the rules that concern a wrongful death do not always agree with the rules that relate to a medical malpractice charge. If a family has sought a wrongful death charge against a doctor, the judge overseeing that case usually follows the rules that apply to a medical malpractice case. That means that it is going to prove necessary to show one of 2 things:
The doctor had acted in an unreasonable and sub-standard fashion, or
The doctor had made an unreasonable and ultimately fatal decision.
Typically, a personal injury lawyer in Sydney knows that the jury would not know how to judge whether or not the doctor’s actions or decision should be viewed as below the standard that is expected of a physician. Hence, the family would need to find a lawyer that could gain access to a suitable expert. A suitable expert could determine whether or not the charged physician had sought out all the information that would be necessary in order to make a reasonable decision.
A suitable expert could also determine whether or not the charged physician had ordered an improper procedure, or had failed to order an important test. Did the same physician go ahead with a given test or procedure, without obtaining the patient’s consent?
Those are all the sorts of issues that must be resolved, if a grieving family hopes to win a wrongful death case against a physician. In a courtroom, a judge and jury would not base their decision on a family’s ill-founded assertions.
