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Most people tend to trust their healthcare providers when they get a prescription medication. However, some wrongfully die in overdoses through no fault of their own.
If you lost a loved one to a prescription overdose, our lawyers can help you file a wrongful death claim for your losses. Doctors and nurses can cause a patient’s overdose in several ways, but providing incorrect medications and dosages is the most common reason for these fatalities. We can gather records and expert reports to file a medical malpractice claim. If a medication manufacturer, like a pharmaceutical company, is responsible, we can file a product liability lawsuit. However, we must act quickly, since victims typically only have two years to file a claim.
Call The Queenan Law Firm at (817) 476-1797 for a free case evaluation with our attorneys for wrongful deaths from prescription overdoses.
How Prescription Overdoses Cause Wrongful Deaths in Frisco
It is a common belief that substance abuse causes most wrongful deaths from prescription overdoses. In reality, healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies are responsible for many prescription overdose deaths.
If you have lost a loved one, our attorneys for wrongful deaths from prescription overdoses can help prove how it occurred. Some of the most common causes of prescription overdose wrongful deaths include the following:
Incorrect Prescription
A wrong prescription can happen when a doctors and pharmacists mistakenly give the wrong medicine or, more often, when they choose an incorrect dosage.
Wrongful deaths can also occur when healthcare providers fail to follow up after prescribing a medication.
Other times, doctors do not get their patient’s complete medical history, leading to allergic reactions or deadly mixtures with other medications.
Improper Administration
Improper administration is another common cause of prescription overdoses, particularly within hospital settings. Doctors, nurses, and other specialists are responsible for administering medications, but might use an administration method that leads to an overdose. For instance, using an IV when the medication should have been digested.
Healthcare professionals cause other deaths by accidentally readministering medications too soon after a previous treatment.
Even the hospital or clinic’s environment or equipment can cause unintentional overdoses if they are not maintained properly.
Poor Instructions
Doctors must provide adequate instructions when prescribing medications. They should warn patients of the risks and potential side effects.
If the doctor’s instructions are incorrect, vague, or incomplete, they can be held liable for not getting the patient’s informed consent.
When Wrongful Death Cases for Prescription Overdoses Must Be Filed in Frisco
The time limit to file a lawsuit, known as the statute of limitations, might differ depending on whether you are filing a healthcare or product liability claim for wrongful death.
Regardless, family members will not be able to recover compensation for their and their loved one’s damages if they miss their case’s filing deadline.
Healthcare Liability Claims
Healthcare liability claims for prescription overdoses usually must be filed within two years of the date the negligence occurred under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 74.251(a). However, when a healthcare provider causes the patient’s death, the two-year statute of limitations begins to run on the day of their passing, according to § 16.003(b).
Since the overdose almost certainly occurred after the doctor was negligent, if the victim was even aware of when it happened, we can trace the cause of action to the date of their wrongful death.
However, a statute of repose under § 74.251(b) bars any healthcare-related wrongful death claims from being filed after 10 years from the act or omission that caused the victim’s passing.
Product Liability Claims
If a medication manufacturer or seller caused wrongful death, family members typically have two years to file a lawsuit from the date the victim died under § 16.003(a).
Types of Damages that Can Be Recovered in Frisco Wrongful Death Claims for Prescription Overdoses
In wrongful death claim, surviving family members can pursue economic and non-economic damages for their losses. The deceased’s heir can also recover compensation for the damages their loved one could have claimed had they lived. Exemplary damages can also be recovered if the defendant’s conduct was especially egregious.
Economic Damages
Many victims of prescription overdoses have medical bills for life-saving treatment and hospital stays before passing, as well as any lost income.
Family members can also claim lost financial support that the deceased provided, including inheritances and those for household and caregiving services.
Economic damages also cover funeral and burial expenses.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages compensate for the pain, suffering, and emotional trauma the family suffers, as well as the victim’s before their passing.
You can also claim non-economic damages for the loss of your loved one’s companionship, guidance, and affection.
Exemplary Damages
Exemplary damages are meant to punish the liable party. Under § 71.009, these damages can be recovered only if the defendant’s act or failure to act was willful or grossly negligent.
For instance, exemplary damages would likely be appropriate if a doctor’s failure to get their patient’s medical history caused the overdose.
Limitations on Damages in Prescription Overdose Wrongful Death Lawsuits
In a wrongful death claim for healthcare liability, the total amount of all damages awarded to each claimant cannot exceed $500,000, regardless of how many defendants are found liable, according to § 74.303(a).
Fortunately, this limitation does not apply to damages for necessary medical, hospital, and custodial care. This amount will increase or decrease as the consumer price index rises and falls.
No limitations are placed on the amount of recoverable economic damages in a product liability claim. Still, you must have evidence proving these losses, like medical bills and expert testimony.
However, non-economic and exemplary damages are capped in these cases. Under § 41.008(b), non-economic damages cannot exceed $750,000. Exemplary damages are capped at two times the economic damages plus non-economic damages, or $200,000, whichever is greater.
Contact Our Attorneys for Wrongful Deaths from Prescription Overdoses in Frisco for Help
For a free case review with our attorneys for wrongful deaths from prescription overdoses, call The Queenan Law Firm at (817) 476-1797.