Death Cause by Medical Negligence

If a person's death is due to medical negligence there may be a wrongful death claim. The medical negligence may be committed by any health care provider including, doctors, nurses and medical assistants. In general, medical negligence is the failure of the health care provider to comply with the applicable standard of care for health care professionals. To comply with the standard of care, a health care provider must exercise that degree of care, skill, and learning that would be expected under similar circumstances of a reasonably prudent health care provider in Arizona. If a doctor or health care provider’s treatment falls below the standard of care and this is a cause of the death, a malpractice claim may exist.

There may be more than one cause of the death. However, it still must be proven that the medical negligence was a cause of the death. Medical negligence is a cause of death if it helps produce the death, and if the death would not have happened without the negligence.

It is often necessary to find a medical expert, such as a doctor, to evaluate the case and offer opinions about whether there was compliance with the standard of care. The claimants would have the burden of proving that the health care provider was negligent and that this negligence was a cause of the death. The claimant's damages and losses must also be proven.