NON-ECONOMIC DAMAGES IN A MARYLAND WRONGFUL DEATH CLAIM

When someone you love dies as the result of medical malpractice, you may be entitled to file two types of claims: a wrongful death claim and a survival action. Both legal actions allow for economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages compensate victims’ families for calculable expenses, such as funeral costs, the victim’s medical bills, and the loss of the victim’s future financial support. Non-economic damages are less tangible losses, including pain and suffering, mental anguish, and grief. Our Maryland and Washington D.C. medical malpractice lawyers explain to you how non-economic damages work in both wrongful death and survival action claims.

Non-economic Damages for Wrongful Death Claims

A wrongful death action compensates dependents of the deceased for theirlosses. Economic damages constitute loss of financial support from the date of the decedent’s injury and his/her death until the decedent would have retired. Economic loss also includes medical bills and funeral and burial expenses.

Non-economic damages are comprised of mental anguish, emotional distress, grief, and loss of companionship experienced by the family. For example, if a mother leaves behind a husband and two children, the entire family feels devastated by the loss. They experience sadness, anger, anxiety, and fear about the future.  They’ve lost the emotional support, companionship, and guidance of a wife and mother. While no amount of money can ever replace this beloved part of the family, the law is designed to offer monetary compensation.

Unfortunately, the laws of the District of Columbia do not allow wrongful death claimants to recover for non-economic loss. However, both Maryland and D.C. allow the decedent’s estate to recover compensation for any pain and suffering experienced by the decedent from the point of negligence until death.

In Maryland medical malpractice cases, the limit for non-economic damages is $785,000 in 2017. The cap increases $15,000 each year.

Non-economic Damages for Survival Actions

The naming of this claim is a bit confusing, but survival actions are brought in the name of the decedent’s estate and are intended to compensate for the losses sustained by the victim. Economic damages include the decedent’s medical bills he/she incurred before death and funeral expenses.

Non-economic damages in a survival action compensate for the physical pain, suffering, mental anguish, fear and emotional distress the decedent experienced between the time of the negligence and the time of death. The funds go to the victim’s estate and are then distributed by inheritance.

If the death is instantaneous, non-economic damages in a survival action cannot be proven. For instance, if a patient suddenly dies on the operating table because of an anesthesiologist’s mistake, and he or she felt no pain, non-economic damages (pain and suffering, etc.) would not likely be recoverable.

Yet, if time passes between the date of initial injury and the date of death, a survival action may compensate the victim’s estate for any physical pain and emotional suffering of the decedent that resulted from negligence.

Questions? Call a Washington D.C. or Baltimore medical malpractice attorney today

For answers to your important questions, contact Schochor, Federico and Staton, P.A. Our experienced, award-winning attorneys have provided medical malpractice representation in Maryland, Washington D.C. and beyond for more than 30 years. We can be reached at 410-234-1000 or by completing a contact form.

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