The vast majority of wrongful death lawsuits never make the news wire, and medical negligence happens every day without much attention from the watchful eye of the public. That is why, with Michael Jackson’s case set for a jury, the attention could have far-reaching effects even for those people in West Virginia.
After a lengthy litigation process in which Jackson’s family sued individual doctors and the company that allegedly hired them, the case has gone to jury deliberation. That jury will now decide whether AEG Live was at fault for Jackson’s untimely death. The company’s attorneys argued in closing that Jackson was ultimately the master of his own demise, and they asked the jury to find that fault for the accidental death was with him.
Jackson’s family brought the cause of action after the pop icon died from drug-related complications. The doctor responsible for his death has been sentenced to prison, and now the family is claiming that AEG Live failed by hiring the doctor, who, in many respects, killed their family member.
His case is one that highlights the many possible places of liability that may be present in a case of this nature. Families like Jackson’s are able to seek compensation from any party that has shared in the responsibility. Initially, they attempted to sue the individual executives involved in the decision-making process. Though that case has been dismissed, the suit against AEG Live remains, and a jury will now determine whether the company is liable for the medical malpractice-related death of Michael Jackson.
Source: WCHS8, “Jury Gets Negligence Case Over Death of Jackson,” Heath Harrison, Sept. 26, 2013
