Birmingham Wrongful Death Laws & Lawsuits

The personal injury law practice at Salter Ferguson, LLC includes cases of medical malpractice and nursing home abuse or neglect in Birmingham and central Alabama that result in the wrongful death of the injured person.  Attorney Karen Salter is also a Registered Nurse with particular expertise in this area based on her practical experience in the nursing field.

What is wrongful death?

In the event a person dies due to the wrongful act, omission, or negligence of another, a personal representative of the deceased may file a wrongful death lawsuit.  The facts required to prove a lawsuit are similar to other personal injury or medical malpractice actions that did not result in death, i.e. the plaintiff must prove that the defendant breached a duty of care owed to the plaintiff, and that the breach of that duty was the factual and legal cause of plaintiff's death.  In addition, it must be shown that the person bringing the suit has suffered a legal injury (damages) because of the death.

Apart from the similarities of a wrongful death lawsuit to other personal injury lawsuits, there are many significant differences as well. 

Damages

The issue of damages, or what types of compensation you can recover, is different in the wrongful death context from other personal injury cases.  Since the plaintiff in a wrongful death case is usually a family member of the deceased, the damages recoverable are those costs associated with the family, such as funeral and burial expenses, and the loss of future earnings, guidance, support, and companionship that the deceased would have provided.   Alabama is unique among the states, however, in focusing compensation on the gravity of defendant's conduct.  Rather than compensating the family for their direct expenses, the purposes of damages in a wrongful death case are to punish the defendant and set an example for other potential defendants about the consequences of their conduct.  Damages in these cases can therefore run very high compared to similar suits in other states.

Medical Malpractice and Wrongful Death

Many states have placed caps on the types and amounts of compensation one can receive in a medical malpractice case.  This has been done under the guise of "tort reform," supposedly to help contain health care costs and insurance rates.  Alabama has several laws on the books capping damages, but most of these have been held unconstitutional by the courts.  One such law places a $250,000 limit on punitive damages in medical malpractice cases, although it specifically does not apply to wrongful death cases.  Another law placing a one million dollar cap on damages against a health care provider in wrongful death cases was held to be unconstitutional.

Doctors and other medical providers are not the only parties that may be liable for medical malpractice.  Hospitals themselves can be held liable for the negligence of health care professionals, depending upon whether they were employees or independent contractors (e.g. doctors with privileges) of the facility.  The hospital's policies, operations, and supervision of its employees are all called into question in these types of cases.

A similar type of institutional responsibility can be found in the case of nursing home abuse or neglect.  Nursing home abuse includes actual physical abuse as well as neglect, isolation, and the deprivation of necessary goods or services.  Abused victims, and their family members in the case of wrongful death, have a right to bring a civil suit against the abuser, including the nursing home which may be responsible as well. 

If a family member or other loved one has died or has been seriously injured as a result of the negligence of another, including cases of medical malpractice or nursing home abuse or neglect, contact the attorneys at Salter Ferguson, LLC for a free consultation regarding your rights and the responsibility of the negligent party.