A doctor at Rome Memorial Hospital in New York faced a lawsuit back in 2006, when a patient of his died. He was working in the emergency department when the incident took place. The family of the man who passed away claims that he failed to examine the man for brain trauma in a proper fashion, and that this negligence led to his death.
What is interesting about this case is that the doctor has already been cleared once. The judge, a supreme court justice, said that he was not guilty in the case. However, the doctor is still facing wrongful death allegations from the family. They have claimed that the judge was too closely involved with the doctor and that she should have offered to take herself off of the case. They claim that she could not be impartial because the two were friends.
The judge has denied these charges multiple times, saying that the two are not actually friends. However, the family refuses to back down, and they are now heading to Rochester to go to the Appellate Division and ask for a brand new trial. They want a new judge to preside over the case.
Proving a wrongful death can be difficult, as this case shows, but anyone who believes that the evidence points to negligence by a doctor has a right to take that doctor to court for compensation for the death. They also have a right to a fair trial that is presided over by an impartial judge. Even in cases that are initially lost, they may still have the right to pursue further action if they feel that they have been wronged and cheated out of a just trial.
Source: uticaod.com, “Doctor's wrongful death case returns to court” Rocco LaDuca, Apr. 08, 2014