When someone dies due to the fault of a professional healthcare provider, it’s extremely unfortunate to imagine that an accident or another cause of death can lead to a personal injury case. There are times when injuries sustained are life-threatening and, regretfully prove to be fatal.
For the healthcare industry, wrongful death is a valid concern. It relates to whether negligence was involved, and who was with the patient from the healthcare facility at the time of their passing.
We’ll examine in detail and take a look at how things appear from the perspective of the patient so to gain greater clarity for those potentially involved in such a case.
Not Every Case is a Wrongful Death
It’s fair to say that when someone dies unexpectedly, it’s natural for friends and relatives to look for blame. Emotions are high with a sudden loss, and it can be hard to maintain calm and focus on good reasoning, it’s natural and is to be expected.
Nevertheless, despite the high emotion of the moment, it’s important to appreciate that not every death is wrongful. Negligence on the part of a nurse, doctor or another individual can be difficult to establish and even harder to prove. Quite often, the assigned blame is based on supposition and not the facts.
It’s important to see what the facts are to determine if it was an unfortunate death or a wrongful one. This is where its important to have good attorneys present, they can provide impartial legal opinions using clear and reasoning based on the established facts of the case.
Wrongful Death Cases Are Handled Differently State to State
New York requires that a personal representative be responsible for the financial affairs of the person who has passed away in a wrongful death case. This could be a family member or a friend who is suitable for this role.
It’s up to the court to appoint this individual as a personal representative. Once officially appointed as the trustee, they can potentially file a wrongful death case. At this point, as the representative and trustee, they’re expected to act in accordance with the wishes of the deceased. This may include pursuing a wrongful death case.
Will an Attorney Be Hired in a Potential Wrongful Death Case?
Most people have never had to deal with the estate of a loved one or pursue a wrongful death case. Along with the emotional shock of the person’s passing, it’s a heavy burden to bear.
When having to manage a case of possible negligence, and or failure in the duty of care, hiring an NYC wrongful death lawyer is essential to get the proper representation. The professional council knows what advice to give, how to proceed with this type of case, and the amount of compensation to consider. Without an experienced attorney when involved in this type of case, New York state, and or a court-appointed trustee is going to find it difficult to manage the legal process.
Gaining insight into wrongful death cases and how they may be perceived outside the healthcare profession is tedious work, and can be driven by heightened emotion. Being informed on how to proceed as the patient’s advocate is paramount.
