Strong Justice For Serious Disease

Family sues oxygen company for wrongful death of mother

On Behalf of | Nov 5, 2012 | Wrongful Death

Caring for an aging or ill family member can be challenging and stressful at times. Arranging the best care for that family member is often a top priority. When choosing care providers, one key aspect for the family is that the provider is reliable. Failure on the part of the provider to perform as expected can be deadly, as any wrongful death lawyer knows.

A Pennsylvania family is grieving over the death of their mother. The mother, who suffered from advanced stage lung cancer, died this year when her oxygen tanks ran out. A surviving family member has filed a wrongful death suit against the company that supplied the oxygen tank, alleging that the company failed to provide her with a new oxygen tank after it was informed that her tanks were low.

Following a Friday delivery of a two-day supply of oxygen tanks, family members called the company on Sunday as the tanks were getting low. The company allegedly refused to deliver on Sundays and instructed them to use the emergency tanks overnight. The emergency tank lasted through early Monday morning, but by 10 a.m., when her family checked on her, they found that their mother had died.

The right to bring a wrongful death suit belongs to the deceased person’s immediate family members on the basis of negligence. These family members may be entitled to monetary damages for their loss of support and loss of income as well as to cover medical and funeral expenses. After all, victims should not have to face financial difficulties as a result of another’s negligence.

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Lawsuit: Oxygen provider’s negligence caused death,” Paula Reed Ward, Oct. 26, 2012

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