Doctors undergo extensive training so that they can provide their patients with the necessary care to improve their patients' physical and mental health. However, despite their experience and knowledge, doctors sometimes make mistakes and errors that impose hardships on those individuals whom they treat. In Montana and jurisdictions all throughout the United States, patients have died as a result of medical malpractice at the hands of their doctors.
Many cases of medical malpractice are based on negligence, and a negligence claim that arises from a medical mistake is in many respects very similar in structure to one that arises out of a car crash, premises liability incident or other unfortunate accident. Generally, a doctor owes his patient a duty of care, and when he or she fails to exercise reasonableness in the execution of that duty and the patient suffers harm, the doctor can become liable for the patient's losses.
In the most extreme cases of medical malpractice, patients lose their lives. When a person dies as a result of the negligence of another person, his surviving relatives may be able to pursue a claim of wrongful death against the responsible party. Doctors can be sued for wrongful death, but certain challenges can arise when filing these claims.
For example, medical records are by law usually private, and it can be a challenge to have those records released even after a patient's death. Privacy laws can make discovery during a wrongful death case difficult, but attorneys who work in the personal injury field of law can help their clients work through these and other legal difficulties.
The loss of a loved one is always a very difficult event to overcome. When that loss is the result of negligence, it can be incredibly tough on the survivors to move forward with their lives. Claims such as wrongful death, medical malpractice and other personal injury causes of action can give survivors opportunities to recover financial damages to help them overcome the expenses they incurred through their loved ones' deaths.