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If medication is too powerful or the doctor does not provide adequate instructions to the patient, an overdose is possible. Some people survive overdosing, but the families of those who do not can file wrongful death claims. Our lawyers can work with you to determine who to blame and how to take legal action.
Damages in wrongful death cases for prescription overdoses can be quite high. Death is something that courts cannot truly compensate for, so financial compensation tends to be very high. Medical costs, lost financial support from your deceased loved one, and various emotional damages are also available. Proving your claims will require extensive medical records and autopsy and toxicology reports. Speak to a lawyer soon, as you have only 2 years to file.
Call The Queenan Law Firm at (817) 476-1797 for a free case assessment with our lawyers for wrongful deaths from prescription overdoses.
Who is Responsible for Prescription Overdose Deaths?
A difficult part of losing a loved one to an overdose is how people are quick to blame the victim for their own passing. In many cases, negligent medical professionals or even drug manufacturers should be held responsible instead.
Your loved one’s doctor may be responsible if they negligently prescribed the medication. Doctors must check with patients and their medical records about any history of drug dependency. If such a history exists, doctors should avoid prescribing medication with a higher risk of dependency or at least adequately advise the patient of the risk.
They must also carefully determine an effective yet safe dosage. If the dosage is unnecessarily high, the doctor could be responsible for an overdose.
Pharmacies might be responsible if they negligently provided the incorrect medication to your loved one. When a pharmacist fills a prescription, they must ensure the correct pills and dosage. If they fill the wrong medicine or a dangerously high dosage, they may be held responsible for a subsequent overdose.
Pharmaceutical companies may also be responsible if they produce unreasonably dangerous medication or mislead consumers about the risks. If the medication carries a high dependency risk, but the company hides this information, they may be responsible for overdoses.
Damages Available in Abilene Wrongful Death Cases for Prescription Overdoses
If you lose a loved one because they overdosed on prescription medication, our lawyers for wrongful deaths from prescription overdoses will seek high damages for the impact of your loss. Your lawyer should help you determine what damages you can claim and their amounts.
Medical Bills
If someone called 911 and your loved one received emergency medical care before they passed, there might be outstanding medical bills. In your wrongful death case, you can claim these medical bills, which may be significant. Your loved one’s medical records can help us determine the type of care they received and the costs.
Lost Financial Support
In many wrongful death cases, surviving family members lose the income they relied on from a spouse or parent. This is often crucial in cases where the victim was the primary income earner for their household.
Lost financial support may also encompass services that the deceased provided, like caregiving services, household services, etc. These damages may encompass the cost of hiring professional services to replace those previously provided by your loved one.
Emotional Damages
Family members suffer substantial damages related to their emotional pain. Damages for grief, emotional distress, the loss of your personal relationship, and lost parental affection might be available.
In Texas, non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases may be limited under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 74.301(a), capping them at $250,000 per plaintiff. The jury ultimately determines non-economic damages, which may be based on how they impact your life, rather than the financial costs.
Exemplary Damages
Exemplary damages can be awarded as a way to punish defendants for bad behavior. They are rare and may be more likely if the defendant’s behavior should be deterred. For example, if your family member overdosed on prescription medication because a doctor negligently prescribed a dangerously high dosage, the court might crack down with exemplary damages.
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 41.003(a) requires clear and convincing evidence that the defendant caused the wrongful death through malice, fraud, or gross negligence for exemplary damages. Gross negligence is far beyond ordinary negligence and might be hard to establish.
Evidence Needed
Wrongful death evidence needs to show the cause of the death plus how the defendant is responsible. Chief among our evidence is medical records.
Medical Records
Medical records illuminate what kind of medical care your loved one received before passing. Medical reports may also indicate where the prescription medication came from, i.e., who prescribed it and why they decided on that medication and dosage. Autopsy and toxicology reports may also be necessary to prove that prescription medication was the cause of the overdose death.
Family Testimony
Testimony may also be important. If you lived with your loved one, you might know how often they took their medication and whether they were taking it too often or taking too many pills at once. You may testify that you never noticed your loved one deviate from their doctor’s instructions, yet they still overdosed and passed away.
Expert Testimony
Sometimes connecting the doctor’s mistakes to the death – in spite of your loved one’s actions in between – is difficult. We often need medical experts to explain that a particular prescription or lack of warning was unacceptable from a doctor, and that this – not your loved one’s addiction or drug misuse – caused their death.
Reach Out to Our Abilene Attorneys for Wrongful Deaths From Prescription Overdoses
Call The Queenan Law Firm at (817) 476-1797 and ask our lawyers for wrongful deaths from prescription overdoses.