There are many reasons a person may file a claim of medical malpractice. Death is one of the most serious. A wrongful death lawsuit, filed by the deceased's love ones, accuses a person of being responsible for another person's death due to some form of negligence on their part. In the case of a medical malpractice death, the family of the deceased person files the suit for litigation under the stance that they are entitled to compensation for the death of their loved one. The wrongful death claim has replaced the ﾑcommon law' claim, which stated that because the victim was deceased there was no way to compensate for the death. Over time, states began to reason that in some cases the family of the loved one had indeed suffered some form of damage as a result of the wrongful death of their loved one, and were therefore entitled to compensation.