Frequently, suicide is preventable, when competent healthcare providers do their jobs right. If a professional provider knows, or should know, that a patient is at risk of dying by suicide, s/he has a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent the suicide. The reasonableness of the steps taken depends upon the extent of the patient’s risk.
Hospital suicides are all too common, usually by hanging. Therefore, staffers have a duty to restrict patient access to lethal means, to closely and constantly monitor the patient to ensure that the patient is receiving proper treatment, and to keep all staff members informed of the patient’s condition and risk for suicide.
Likewise, mental health professionals have a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent suicide. These individuals count on these professionals to help them through this moment of suicidal crisis, so that they can go on living.
Unfortunately, doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff members can and do make bad decisions about patient safety. Their errors often have the opposite result of effective treatment by worsening suicidal feelings. If you lost a loved one due to the negligence of a medical provider who failed to prevent suicide, contact a lawyer who puts families first.
That’s the kind of lawyer you’ll find at Freidin Brown, P.A. Our compassionate Port St. Lucie preventable suicide lawyers understand the emotional loss that a suicide means to a family. Many of the people on our professional team have gone through similar experiences. So, we feel passionate about the legal and financial rights of survivors. No amount of money fills the void, but quite frankly, money helps.
Negligence Basics
We mentioned the duty of care in a medical negligence case above. Overall, doctors and other medical professionals have a fiduciary duty. They must disregard everything else and only focus on patient health and safety.
A breach of duty is a lack of care. The duty of care is so high in medical negligence cases that doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals have very little margin for error. Any mistake, no matter how slight, is usually negligence.
Cause, the third element, means both factual cause and legal cause. Factual cause, or but-for causation, is a connection between the breach and the damages. Legal causation is foreseeability (possibility) of injury.
As for damages, as mentioned, no amount of money can fill the void a suicide leaves. However, money damages help survivors move on with their lives. That’s what the decedent would have wanted.
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What to Expect in a Medical Malpractice Claim
If liability, damages, and other issues are perfectly clear, the defendant has a legal duty to quickly settle the claim. However, questions usually abound in one or both areas. Therefore, to pressure the insurance company into a fair settlement, most attorneys file legal paperwork. This move also preserves the victim’s legal rights.
Discovery usually comes next. For the most part, the lawyers sort through the evidence in the case during discovery. Victims must frequently submit to medical examinations, give their depositions, and produce certain documents.
Usually, a third-party mediator helps the two sides resolve medical malpractice claims out of court. Mediators dispassionately review and evaluate claims and defenses. Mediators also ensure that both sides negotiate in good faith. Because of this professional intervention, mediation is about 90 percent successful.
Reach Out to a Compassionate St. Lucie County Lawyer
Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced Port St. Lucie preventable suicide lawyer, contact Freidin Brown, P.A. We do not charge upfront legal fees in these matters.
