QUESTION
Mother dies from heart blockage after being discharged from hospital with sinusitis
Asked on Jun 15th, 2016 on Medical Malpractice - Tennessee
More details to this question:
I just turned 18 years old & have been told I may have legal rights to pursue a wrongful death action against the dr &/or hospital regarding my mother's death in October 2006. She had many tests run in 05/ 06 due to chest pain, headaches, dizziness. Heart tests, labs, xrays returned a normal diagnosis. In October, she went to dr with severe headache & was admitted to hospital for overnight observation. She was diagnosed with sinus infection, given prescriptions to fill and discharged the next morning. She stopped at drug store, got Rx, went to my grandmother's, ate dinner & said she wasn't feeling well. She laid down for a nap with me, & when I woke up, I couldn't wake her. I told my Nana, she tried to wake her, couldn't, called 911 & began CPR. I feel that with the dr or hospital was negligent in discharging her, as she had history of pancreatitis & wasn't checked for that. Do I have a case?
1 ANSWER
No you do not have a case. When your mother died in October, 2006, the next of kin, even a minor, had one year to bring an action to recover for the wrongful death. The fact that you were a minor is irrelevant in a wrongful death action because the wrongful death statute in Tennessee merely preserves the cause of action that belonged to the decedent and does not create a new cause of action for beneficiaries, such as the children. See Jones v. Black, 539 S.W.2d 123 (Tenn. 1976).
Answered on Jun 16th, 2016 at 10:28 AM