Wrongful Death from Medical Malpractice in PA: A Family’s Guide

Wrongful Death from Medical Malpractice in PA: A Family’s Guide

Losing a family member is devastating under any circumstances. When that loss is caused by a medical professional’s negligence, the grief is compounded by a sense of betrayal — the very people trusted to heal your loved one instead caused their death. Pennsylvania law provides surviving family members with the right to pursue a wrongful death claim against the responsible healthcare providers. These cases are among the most complex in personal injury law, requiring both medical expertise and financial sophistication to properly value the loss.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Pennsylvania?

Under Pennsylvania’s wrongful death statute (42 Pa.C.S. § 8301), only specific family members can file a wrongful death action:

• The spouse of the deceased.
• Children of the deceased (including adopted children).
• Parents of the deceased (if the deceased had no spouse or children).

The claim must be brought by the personal representative (executor or administrator) of the deceased’s estate on behalf of these beneficiaries. If no personal representative has been appointed, the court can appoint one specifically for the purpose of filing the wrongful death action.

In addition to the wrongful death claim, the personal representative can also file a survival action, which recovers damages that the deceased person would have been entitled to had they survived, including pain and suffering experienced before death and medical expenses incurred during the final illness or injury.

Common Medical Errors That Cause Wrongful Death

Medical malpractice wrongful death cases can arise from virtually any type of medical error. The most common include:

• Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis. Failing to diagnose cancer, heart disease, stroke, pulmonary embolism, or sepsis in time to provide effective treatment. When a treatable condition goes undetected, it can progress to a fatal stage.
• Surgical errors. Wrong-site surgery, anesthesia complications, uncontrolled bleeding during surgery, perforated organs, and post-surgical infections that go unmonitored.
• Medication errors. Administering the wrong medication, the wrong dosage, or failing to account for dangerous drug interactions. Certain medication errors can cause fatal allergic reactions, organ failure, or cardiac arrest.
• Birth injuries resulting in infant death. Failure to monitor fetal distress, delayed emergency C-section, umbilical cord complications, and oxygen deprivation during delivery.
• Hospital-acquired infections. Failure to follow proper sterile procedures, inadequate hand hygiene, and failure to properly clean surgical equipment can lead to fatal infections like MRSA and C. difficile.
• Emergency room failures. Failure to properly triage patients, premature discharge of patients with life-threatening conditions, and delayed treatment during critical time windows.

Pennsylvania’s Special Requirements for Medical Malpractice Wrongful Death Cases

Medical malpractice wrongful death claims in Pennsylvania are subject to special procedural requirements that do not apply to other types of wrongful death cases:

• Certificate of Merit. Before filing the lawsuit, your attorney must obtain a written statement from a qualified medical expert confirming that the healthcare provider deviated from the accepted standard of care and that the deviation caused the death. This requirement exists under Pa.R.C.P. 1042.3.
• Expert testimony. Medical malpractice cases require expert witnesses who can testify about the standard of care and how the defendant deviated from it. In many cases, multiple experts are needed — one to establish the standard of care, another to establish causation.
• Statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is two years from the date of death. However, the discovery rule may extend this deadline if the malpractice was not immediately apparent. There is also a seven-year statute of repose from the date of the negligent act.

Compensation in Medical Malpractice Wrongful Death Cases

Pennsylvania does not cap compensatory damages in medical malpractice wrongful death cases. The types of compensation available include:

Through the wrongful death claim:

• Funeral and burial expenses.
• Loss of the deceased’s expected earnings and financial support to the family.
• Loss of benefits, including health insurance, pension, and retirement contributions.
• Loss of guidance, counsel, and parental support (in cases involving a parent’s death).
• Loss of companionship and society.

Through the survival action:

• Pain and suffering the deceased experienced before death.
• Medical expenses incurred during the final illness or treatment.
• Lost wages from the time of injury to the time of death.

When combined, the wrongful death claim and survival action can result in substantial recoveries, particularly in cases involving the death of a primary wage earner or a young person with decades of lost earning potential.

Why These Cases Require Specialized Legal and Financial Expertise

Medical malpractice wrongful death cases are among the most expensive and complex cases in the legal system. The defendant healthcare providers and hospitals are typically represented by well-funded defense teams with access to their own medical experts. Successfully prosecuting these cases requires an attorney who can match that level of resources and expertise.

Joseph F. Leeson III is a Super Lawyers Rising Star and a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum. His combined JD, MBA, and CPA background gives him the financial expertise to accurately calculate the lifetime economic loss caused by a wrongful death, including projected earnings, pension benefits, household services, and the present value of future losses. This financial sophistication is critical in medical malpractice wrongful death cases, where the damages calculation directly determines the value of the case.

Leeson & Leeson serves families across Pennsylvania, including Bethlehem, Allentown, Easton, Lehigh Valley, and Harrisburg.

Frequently Asked Questions