Medical Negligence Resulting in Death

Clinical Negligence

Useful information

Medical Negligence Resulting in Death

Medical negligence resulting in death is an extremely traumatic time for loved ones, but our clinical negligence solicitors are here to help you find out what went wrong.

Dealing with the loss of someone close to you will always be difficult, but we can help ease the financial difficulties that a death can cause, hopefully making your family’s life a little easier.

Although compensation for death due to medical negligence will never replace a loved one, it can help provide a more secure future for you and your family, and by making a claim with us, you can be reassured that you’re being represented by some of the best medical negligence lawyers in Cornwall and Devon.

Types Of Medical Negligence Resulting In Death

These cases vary but may include:-

Delay in diagnosis acute infections such as meningitis or sepsis
Catastrophic drug errors
Failing to provide emergency surgery or treatment
Death following delay of diagnosis such as cancer or other illness which would have been treated with earlier treatment
Still birth or maternal death
Delay in referring to hospital on presentation of an acute condition such as a heart attack, brain haemorrhage or pulmonary embolism
Deaths occurring whilst an inpatient at a psychiatric hospital/preventable suicides

What Can We Claim For?

The courts will generally look at the pain, suffering and loss of amenity experienced by your loved one before they died which can be limited in many cases where the death has been sudden or following a short period of sickness. Consequently, the value for these types of medical negligence resulting in death cases can be relatively low value but there are circumstances where the claim may extend to other elements such as where your loved one left dependants, such as children or a spouse, behind.

Where someone loses a spouse or a partner upon whom they were financially dependent, there are inevitably serious financial consequences to cope with in addition to the emotional impact of a death. It is therefore quite rightly possible to recover a sum of money for loss of dependency including a loss of dependency on income (such as earnings) as well as dependency for services (such as care and assistance around the home). Of course, no amount of money will ever compensate you for the loss of a loved one but it can help by making provision for the future needs of your family.

In addition, a statutory bereavement award for specific categories of loved ones are payable in some case, which is fixed by law and reviewed from time to time. The current level of bereavement award is £12,890 although it is widely recognised that this is simply not a true reflection of loss of life. Indeed, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), is currently campaigning for a change in the law to the bereavement award in England and Wales and this is fully supported by our specialist medical negligence lawyers, accredited by APIL, at Coodes LLP.

Death Due To Medical Negligence – Inquests

In addition to the death due to medical negligence claim for compensation, sometimes when deaths occur in unusual or unclear circumstances, an inquest might be held to establish the facts around the death. Our specialist solicitors have a vast amount of experience of dealing with inquests in medical negligence cases. In some cases, therefore, we can represent you at inquests, to help guide you through proceedings and to make sure your voice is heard. This also helps gather crucial evidence ahead of the compensation claim for medical negligence.

We can accept fatal clinical negligence cases on a No Win No Fee basis which means that you won’t have to worry about paying legal costs unless you win your claim.

Please contact us for more information or book an appointment using the form below: