Articles Posted in Wrongful Death

What is the value of a wrongful death in a medical malpractice case? Ultimately, the value is what the jury says the value of the life was. Of course, the jury’s value is different from the value that the plaintiffs are actually allowed to receive. The pain and suffering cap in medical malpractice cases in Maryland for a wrongful death in 2018 is $1,00,000, assuming you have more than one survivor.  Otherwise, it is only $800,000.  For a human life.

Is that fair? Do we have any other way to estimate the value of a human life? The federal government values human life in the context of how much we should spend to keep a person alive. Even within the federal government, the numbers vary:

• EPA: $9.1 million

Paul Luvera offers advice for lawyers in dealing with wrongful death cases. But I think it is also useful for all people in considering the feelings of survivors in death “cases.”