Personal Injury Lawyer
Survival action lawsuits allow your loved one’s estate to seek damages for what your loved one suffered at the hands of another person prior to death. When it comes to lawsuits, this may sound a lot like wrongful death. There are some differences, however. Here are a few things you need to know.
Medical Expenses
You may notice that both the survival action and wrongful death lawsuit can cover medical expenses. The major difference is that when you file a wrongful death lawsuit, you are dealing with the expenses that occurred just before death. For instance, if the ambulance arrived to take your loved one to the hospital and the emergency room provided life saving measures to try to save your family member, then those costs may be included in the compensatory damages for wrongful death.
Survival action, however, is a broader topic. Often, when it comes to survival action, the decedent may have lived for some time. For instance, say that your loved one came down with mesothelioma due to his or her workplace. The employer and company may be liable for his or her sickness and ultimate death. When you file a survival action, you are seeking compensation for all of the medical bills associated with that illness.
Pain and Suffering
In a wrongful death lawsuit, you can receive compensation based on your pain and suffering. In wrongful death, you are essentially suing on your behalf. You have lost support and companionship. You may experience mental anguish, pain and suffering, and more. The wrongful death suit is there for you to recover damages based on that fact.
The survival action, on the other hand, is for your loved one. Did your loved one suffer mental anguish and pain and suffering at the hands of the person responsible for his or her death? For those who have injuries that last a long time before succumbing to them or illnesses, then he or she may have been under great stress and pain and suffering.
The major difference when you are looking at wrongful death versus survival action is who is being compensated. When you file a wrongful death lawsuit, you have to think about the losses you suffered because your loved one died at the hands of another person. When you file a survival action, you are essentially thinking about the other person’s life and the struggles that he or she went through on behalf of the injury or illness that the other person or organization caused. To further clarify the differences, set up a consultation with a wrongful death lawyer, today.