When a wrongful death occurs, it can be a tragedy for the family of the loved ones. Wrongful deaths are unexpected and are caused when someone dies due to another person’s negligence. This can happen in a variety of ways, before we discuss the documentation you need in a wrongful death case and how to file a wrongful death lawsuit, let’s look at the possible ways wrongful death can happen.

Common Causes of Wrongful Death

Car Accidents, Truck Accidents, And Motorcycle Accidents
The most common causes of wrongful deaths usually happen in either car accidents, truck accidents or motorcycle accidents. The reasons a wrongful death may take place in these instances could be:

• Driver negligence, this could possibly be due to the fact they were distracted because they were texting or any other activity that would take their eyes and attention off the road.

• It could be due to driver recklessness if a driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs or they could have violated the safety rules of the road.

• A manufacturing defect on the vehicle, such as defective brakes or tires that caused the accident.

• Or even road defects caused the car to crash.

Construction or Workplace Accidents
Workplace accidents are unfortunately a common occurrence especially in the construction industry. Typical examples of a workplace wrongful death due to someone else’s negligence could include:

• Failure to have proper fall protections
• Failure to adhere to general scaffolding or ladder safety standards
• Insufficient safety training for workers
• Defective equipment
• Poor safety precautions, failure to provide proper personal protective equipment
• Fires and explosions
• Exposure to toxic substances.

Medical Malpractice that Caused a Wrongful Death
If a doctor or any other medical professional caused a wrongful death due to their negligence, they could be held responsible. A few possibilities of this could be:

• Delayed or misdiagnosis of a life-threatening condition
• Prescribing or administering wrong medications
• Surgical mishaps, such as leaving sponges in the operation site
• Failure to treat or wrong treatment of a serious condition
• Laboratory or X-ray errors.

Wrongful Deaths in Nursing Homes
When a loved one is in a nursing home, they should feel protected, as should you. But nursing homes can be held responsible for wrongful death due to their employee’s negligence. Some cases of this could be:

• Improper medical care
• Failure to diagnose or treat a serious condition
• Neglect and abuse of patients
• Failure to provide proper nourishment
• Slips and falls
• Medication errors
• Failure to refer a resident to outside specialists or professionals.

As you can see, there are many ways a loved one could be a victim of wrongful death. Some other possible ways might be slip, trip, and fall accidents, defective products that led to the death or even pedestrian and or biking accidents. If you think a loved one died due to someone else’s negligence because of any of these examples above contact a wrongful death attorney today.

Documentation Needed in a Wrongful Death Case
The documentation and evidence you will need to file a wrongful death claim can vary depending on several things. How it happened, where it happened, who was involved etc. That said, there are some usual or common items needed for all claims. These are:

1. Any police reports and the death certificate – this is needed to identify what exactly was the cause of death.

2. Medical records and autopsy reports. This would show that it was not someone’s past medical history being the reason for the death. An example could be in a car accident the defendant cannot blame the victims pre-existing conditions as the reason for their death.

3. Evidence of the negligent party and victim’s relationship. An example where this could be needed would be a medical malpractice wrongful death case. It would show that the medical professional had a duty to take car of their patient and due to their negligence, they did not uphold that responsibility.

4. Lastly, tax returns and other family records. This is needed to calculate the value of the claim itself.

Contact a Wrongful Death Lawyer to Help You and Your Loved Ones
A wrongful death attorney will help fight to get your family the justice and compensation you deserve for the lost of your loved one. If the wrongful death was indeed due to someone else’s negligence they will get the facts to prove it. Whether it be in a car accident, medical malpractice or any other possibility of wrongful death, a skilled wrongful death attorney can help you.