How Can Families Navigate the Legal System After a Wrongful Death Due to Anesthesia Errors?

What is a Wrongful Death Case?

Wrongful death claims are lawsuits filed by surviving family members or personal representatives on behalf of loved ones after their lives have been taken by the actions or inactions of reckless, negligent, careless, or malicious entities. A wrongful death claim can be filed in cases where the victim was intentionally killed, or their life was claimed due to negligence, such as medical malpractice.

Under Washington DC law, there are four elements that must be present in a successful wrongful death claim. These include the following:

The personal representative or surviving family member of the deceased must show that the careless, reckless, or negligent acts of the defendant are the direct cause of death
The legal representative or surviving family member must also show that the defendant owed the decedent a certain duty of care. If there was a legal doctor-patient relationship, then the medical professional should have owed a certain standard of care to their patient
Your wrongful death lawsuit must establish that there was not an underlying reason for the tragic death of your loved one and that the death was a direct result of the defendant’s actions or inactions
The death of the victim must have generated damages, such as medical bills, hospitalization expenses, lost wages, lost future income, pain and suffering, and funeral costs

At LawMD,we have the distinction that our attorneys are also physicians, who bring their medical and legal knowledge together in managing your case.

A death associated with an anesthesia error often must be reviewed by doctors of two distinct specialties, an anesthesiologist and a pathologist. LawMD has doctors of each of these specialties on our legal team. Our board-certified anesthesiologist can review the records in your case to identify any breaches of the standard of care in applying or monitoring the anesthesia, and our board-certified pathologist can review the medical records to help prove that the breach substantially caused the death. Who better to complete the initial legal review of your case than doctors who practice medicine in the areas critical to its success? Our team of medical malpractice attorney/physicians are uniquely qualified to assist in your wrongful death claim when anesthesiology errors are suspected.

Who is Eligible to File a Wrongful Death Claim in Washington, DC?

Not everyone is eligible to file a wrongful death claim in Washington, DC. Under the law, you must either be a surviving family member or the decedent’s legal representative who has suffered damages due to the victim’s passing. Essentially, you must have had a close personal relationship with the deceased if you wish to file a wrongful death claim.

Common examples of parties eligible to file wrongful death claims include the following:

A domestic partner of the deceased
A surviving spouse
Children of the decedent
Dependent parents
Minor children living with the deceased, including adoptive children
The personal representative of the decedent’s estate

We encourage you to contact our law firm for legal guidance to ensure that you are eligible to file a wrongful death claim. We would be proud to represent your interests as you pursue justice and compensation in your wrongful death case.

What Are the Different Types of Anesthesia?

Four different types of anesthesia are used to prevent the patient from sending and receiving pain signals during a medical operation.

Local anesthesia does not render the patient unconscious. It merely numbs a small part of the body where the surgery will be taking place. This type of anesthesia is generally used in skin biopsies, cataract surgeries, and dental procedures.

Regional anesthesia blocks pain in an entire body region, such as below the chest during childbirth. The patient will remain conscious during regional anesthesia but will remain pain-free during the procedure.

Sedation, also sometimes referred to as twilight sleep, does not actually put a patient to sleep. Instead, it puts them in a very relaxed state where they can later be awakened by doctors if they need to communicate with them during the procedure. This is usually combined with local anesthesia and may be utilized in some colonoscopies, oral surgeries, and cardiac catheterizations.

General anesthesia makes the Patient fully unconscious. During this time, they will feel no pain anywhere in their body. This is usually administered for surgeries that require the patient to be completely still, such as open-heart surgery.

What Anesthesia Mistakes Sometimes Lead to Death?

Errors in anesthesia can occur in a variety of ways, often with serious consequences, including the potential for death. Common examples of anesthesia errors that could result in deaths in the operating room include the following:

Contaminated or defective equipment
Failing to properly research a patient’s medical history and understand their allergies
Failure to avoid harmful drug interactions
Failure to monitor a patient’s vital signs during a procedure
Failure to properly communicate preoperative requirements with the surgical team
Incorrect dosing, such as using too much anesthesia
Intubation errors
Misuse of spinal anesthetics
Our board-certified Anesthesiologist/Attorney will be happy to discuss your case and help you get the best possible outcome.

When is an Anesthesia Error Considered Medical Malpractice?

Medical negligence claims fall under the umbrella of personal injury tort claims. To file a personal injury claim, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant had a duty of care to the plaintiff, that the defendant failed in that duty, and that the defendant’s failure was the direct cause of the harm to the plaintiff. This applies to wrongful death claims as well, except for the fact that someone is filing the claim on behalf of the deceased.

For medical professionals, the duty of care relates to the standards of care that any responsible doctor, dentist, surgeon, nurse, or other type of medical physician with similar training and experience would provide under similar circumstances. When medical professionals fail to meet those standards of care and a death occurs, they may be held liable for medical malpractice.

Who May Be Held Liable for Anesthesia Errors?

For family members who’ve lost a loved one due to anesthesia errors, it becomes necessary to find out who can be held responsible for a wrongful death claim. Liability will vary depending on the unique facts of the case.

Depending on those facts, surviving family members and personal representatives may potentially take legal action against the following:

Dentists and oral surgeons
Hospitals, physician groups, and medical practices that employed negligent providers
Negligent anesthesiologists
Plastic or cosmetic surgeons
The manufacturers of defective equipment or drugs used in the administration of anesthesia
And any medical professional who negligently uses anesthesia in a medical procedure

How to Pursue Compensation?

You and your attorneys must prove several factors to win a medical malpractice claim or a wrongful death lawsuit. If these factors can be properly established in your claim, it is possible to recover compensation for economic and non-economic damages.

Financial compensation may include the following:

Funeral, memorial, and burial expenses
Loss of companionship or consortium
Loss of guidance or guardianship
Lost benefits and lost future income
Lost wages
Pain and suffering
The cost of medical care before death

How Can Medical Malpractice Attorneys Help You Through Wrongful Death Litigation?

The loss of a loved one is a difficult and often traumatizing experience, and going through the legal process while in a state of grief is often too much to ask of anyone. That is why it is recommended that you have an experienced wrongful death attorney by your side throughout the legal proceedings.

Our attorney/physicians have made medical malpractice cases the core focus of our legal practice, extending to wrongful death cases in hospitals or medical settings. We have a thorough understanding of the legal process, filing deadlines, and laws pertaining to Washington DC wrongful death cases, which can reduce the stress on your shoulders and help you succeed with your case.

Wrongful death cases can be complicated and expensive at times. A knowledgeable medical malpractice attorney can help lift the burden, allowing you and your family the time to grieve instead of worrying about complex legal matters. With the help of our wrongful death lawyers, we can help streamline the process, saving you time and money.

If necessary, we will take your wrongful death claim to trial and begin the litigation process. Our lawyers have years of experience in the courtroom setting and would be proud to represent your interests before a judge.

Schedule a Free Consultation with Experienced Medical Malpractice Lawyers Today

Enjoin the help of the physician-attorneys at LawMD. Our legal team has extensive experience representing clients in complex medical malpractice and wrongful death cases, including those involving anesthesia errors. To learn more about our legal services, please contact our Washington, DC, law firm to schedule your free initial consultation today.

Please contact our Washington, DC, law office to schedule your free, no-obligation case evaluation today.

You can get in touch with us by calling us at 844-735-1024.