Yes, generally. In a normal accidental injury or death case, if a family member dies, the family members could sue.

But there is one exception under Florida law. This was a provision that was pressed by the insurance industry in Florida. It’s really a tragic current situation. And it’s this: if you are over the age of 60 – 65 and you weren’t working at the time of the malpractice and your death occurs, the only people that can bring a claim are the surviving spouse or minor children or dependent children. Generally that’s not the case with people that are 65, 70, 75 years old.

In a normal accidental injury case, the family members could bring a cause of action, that is the siblings or the children could bring a cause of action. That’s not true in a medical malpractice case. It can only be brought by the surviving spouse. But otherwise, a claim can always be made for the accidental death of a person. But the damages are limited, peculiarly in Florida, if you do not have a surviving spouse or a person that has children that are dependent or minor children.