Opinion ID: 1970225
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Heading Rank: 3

Heading: loss of chance as a wrongful death action claim

Text: The certified question is limited to a scenario in which a loss of chance claim is brought in an action under Delaware's wrongful death statute. That statute provides a cause of action for the benefit of the wife, husband, parent and child of the deceased person. 10 Del.C. § 3721. Based on the nature of a wrongful death action and the statutory beneficiaries of the deceased (who sue in their own right, not as representatives of the deceased for the benefit of the deceased's estate), we conclude that a loss of chance claim is not viable in such an action. The purpose of the wrongful death statute is to permit the recovery of damages not limited to pecuniary losses by persons injured as a result of the death of another person. Id. § 3725 (emphasis added). Significantly, the statute also provides that an action thereunder is to be maintained against the person whose wrongful act causes the death of another. Id. § 3722(a) (emphasis added). Shively recognized that it would be a departure from traditional Delaware causation principles to hold that a person has caused another's death where it was probable that the person would have died from his or her medical condition regardless of the malpractice. 551 A.2d at 43-44; see also Culver v. Bennett, Del.Supr., 588 A.2d 1094, 1096-97 (1991). If an injury is suffered in the loss of chance situation, it is the reduced possibility of survival which is the basis of the claim, not the death itself. This distinction is crucial, but has not always been recognized. As one author has noted: Commentators believe that [the differing approaches of courts to the loss of chance doctrine] arise from the courts' failure to focus on the key issue  namely, where one is deprived of his chance to survive, the actual loss suffered is this lost chance, not the life itself. Patricia L. Andel, Comment, Medical Malpractice: The Right to Recover for the Loss of a Chance of Survival, 12 Pepp.L.Rev. 973, 974 (1985); see also Brennwald, 34 Cath.U.L.Rev. at 787 (In loss of a chance cases, however, a plaintiff is not trying to recover for a wrongful death, but for the loss of a chance to avoid the death.). Since a wrongful death claim is purely statutory and the statute is expressly limited to (1) providing compensation to those statutory beneficiaries injured by the death of another (10 Del.C. § 3725), and (2) authorizing the maintenance of an action against a person who causes the death of another (10 Del.C. § 3722(a)), it is not the proper type of action in which to pursue a loss of chance claim absent legislation enacted by the General Assembly. See Shively, 551 A.2d at 44. [5] We need not decide whether or not plaintiffs' argument would prevail in a personal injury action brought by the alleged victim or in a survival action brought by that person's personal representative. Even if loss of chance claims were actionable in such cases it is not actionable under Delaware's current statutory framework in a wrongful death action. In a personal injury action or in a survival action it is the injured person's claim or the decedent's claim, respectively, which is being vindicated, not that of the statutory beneficiaries who are entitled to maintain their action solely by virtue of the wrong death statute. See Fennell v. Southern Md. Hosp. Ctr., Ct.App., 320 Md. 776, 580 A.2d 206, 214 (1990) (If loss of chance damages are permitted they would under case law have to be awarded under a survival action, not a wrongful death action.). The alleged harm is to the person whose chance of survival might be reduced. It might be logical, therefore, for that person (or the legal representatives of the person) to be able to sue and recover compensation irrespective of whether death has occurred. This principle, which reflects the proportional approach to the loss of chance doctrine, might not require a change in Delaware's traditional causation principles. While some courts have indicated that only the legislature should determine the propriety of awarding damages for a loss of chance of survival, see Fennell, 580 A.2d at 214, we do not find it necessary to so decide here. Although we believe that a legislative solution is appropriate, the courts may have the power to fashion such a remedy through the common law. [6]