Opinion ID: 2521561
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Washington's Special Survival StatuteRCW 4.20.060

Text: During oral argument, the estate contended that it was entitled to damages under the special survival statute in addition to the general survival statute. Under RCW 4.20.060, [n]o action for a personal injury to any person occasioning death shall abate ... by reason of such death, if such person has a surviving spouse or child living. Thus, the estate's cause of action did not abate for purposes of this statute. Unlike the general survival statute, the special survival statute relates to personal injury actions. Under RCW 4.20.060, a personal representative of a decedent has the authority to bring a cause of action for a decedent's personal injuries, and then only if the injuries were the cause of death. Like the general survival statute, however, the special survival statute does not create new causes of action but preserves personal injury actions that a decedent could have brought had he or she survived. In this case, Ms. Otani could have brought a personal injury action for her punctured aorta had she survived the surgery. Since Ms. Otani did not survive, this cause of action was preserved for the benefit of her statutorily named beneficiaries under RCW 4.20.060. The estate would be allowed to recover under this statute if it could show that Ms. Otani experienced pain and suffering, anxiety, emotional distress, or humiliation arising out of her injury prior to death. To support an award of pain and suffering, both survival statutes require that actual suffering be experienced. Since the estate does not contend that Ms. Otani suffered a conscious loss from the time of her injury until death, [4] but seeks recovery for Ms. Otani's LOEL that arose out of her death, no damages are available to the estate under RCW 4.20.060. Finally, the estate asserts the policy argument that it is somehow cheaper for a tortfeasor to kill a plaintiff than to harm a plaintiff. Washington's wrongful death statutes are in place to prevent this result. Under these statutes, a wrongful death action may be brought by the personal representative of a decedent's estate on behalf of specified statutory beneficiaries for the losses sustained by them as a result of a decedent's death. Simply put, the wrongful death statutes govern post-death damages to specifically named beneficiaries for their own damages which arise from death. Alternatively, the survival statutes govern predeath damages and preserve claims for a decedent's personal representatives that the decedent could have maintained if he or she had not died. Although Washington's wrongful death and survival statutes benefit different parties, they provide recoverable damages for the death or injury of another, depending on the circumstances. Thus, it is not cheaper for a defendant to kill, instead of injure, another person in Washington.