Youngstown Wrongful Death Lawyers

What is Wrongful Death?

When someone’s negligence, carelessness, or in some cases, malicious behavior causes a fatality, it is considered a wrongful death. Therefore, wrongful death can come in many forms.

This includes car accidents, motorcycle accidents, medical malpractice, work-related accidents, slip and fall accidents and more.

For instance, a local Fifth Avenue nursing home in Youngstown is currently facing multiple wrongful death suits in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. The claims allege the deaths of two female patients were preventable had they received proper medical care.

Common Causes of Wrongful Deaths

Wrongful deaths can occur due to various circumstances. Two of the leading causes are:

• Automobile accidents
• Medical malpractice

The Ohio Medical Professional Liability reports that in any given year, over 2,000 medical malpractice claims are filed in Ohio.

These typically occur because of negligent doctors, surgeons, anesthesiologists, or nurses. The hospital itself can also be negligent if it used faulty equipment, overworked staff, or improperly supplied emergency rooms.

Wrongful death auto accidents common and are also described as “unintended fatalities caused by someone else’s recklessness or negligence.” Your loss may be the fault of another driver, a negligent manufacturer, or those responsible for the road conditions.

Compensation in a wrongful death claim often falls into two categories:

• Damages experienced by the deceased: These are damages from the moment the act of negligence happened that caused their death, up until the time they passed. This includes medical expenses, lost wages, funeral and burial expenses.
• Compensation for damages experienced by the next of kin: This is financial compensation for the survivors. It can include lost wages that would have been earned by the deceased.

Discuss the options available to you and how to best recover all the compensation you are entitled to.

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Filing a Wrongful Death Claim in Youngstown

Wrongful death lawsuits are civil matters in the General Division of the Court of Common Pleas in Ohio. They are used to recover compensation and are not the same as criminal prosecutions.

For example, if a drunk driver kills a pedestrian, the surviving relatives can file a civil wrongful death lawsuit. The driver may also face criminal prosecution, but this is a separate legal action. Even if the person is not found guilty of the crime, they may still be found liable in a wrongful death lawsuit.

One way to tell if you have a wrongful death claim is by asking, “If the victim had lived, would they have been justified in filing a personal injury claim?” If the answer is yes, then a wrongful death suit is usually applicable.

Ohio law states that you are allowed to file a wrongful death claim within two years of a victim’s death. However, speak with a wrongful death attorney to understand how the statute of limitations might apply.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

The executor or administrator of an estate must initiate a wrongful death suit. As a result, wrongful death claims exist to benefit the decedent’s next of kin. Normally, a representative of the deceased person’s estate files on behalf of the survivors of the victim.

This can include:

• Spouses
• Parents of minors, if a child/children were killed
• Minors, if their parents were killed
• Siblings
• Grandparents