Lifestyle

How to Pursue a Wrongful Death Claim

Published

2 years ago

February 13, 2024

If someone you love has died because of someone else’s actions or negligence, you may be entitled to compensation via a wrongful death claim. Unfortunately, many people don’t really understand what a wrongful death claim is and aren’t especially motivated to pursue one.

How do you pursue a wrongful death claim and is it worth the time and effort?

Your First Step: Contacting a Lawyer

The first step of the process should always be contacting a wrongful death lawyer. Your lawyer is going to be your personal representative, representing your best interests, helping you understand the law, and advising you on the best course of action for your wrongful death suit. Most wrongful death lawyers are willing to offer an initial, free consultation, so there’s no real risk or downside to contacting one to determine if you have a reasonable wrongful death claim on your hands.

Upon first contact, your lawyer may inform you that this wrongful death claim isn’t worth pursuing, for one reason or another. If your claim is worth pursuing, however, they’ll help you understand the first steps of the process and provide you with instructions for how to conduct yourself from here.

What Is a Wrongful Death Claim?

In case you aren’t familiar, a wrongful death claim is a civil claim filed against an individual or an organization that was responsible for a person’s wrongful death. Wrongful death can occur in many situations and for many reasons, but it’s usually associated with an intentionally harmful action, malpractice, or negligence.

Wrongful death claims are often (but not only) filed in the events of wrongful death on the job, car accidents, medical malpractice, and product liability issues. If a person died because of someone else’s actions or lack of actions, it could hypothetically qualify as a wrongful death.

When filing a wrongful death claim, plaintiffs seek compensation from defendants. Compensation can be awarded for:

Medical bills. If there were significant medical bills incurred as a result of this action or accident, the defendant may be responsible for reimbursing you for them. Any medical expenses associated with this particular event may be included.
Funeral expenses. The defendant may also be responsible for compensating you for funeral expenses. The amount awarded may vary depending on several variables.
Mental pain and suffering. Losing a loved one is horrific, and typically causes significant pain and suffering. While it’s hard to put a price tag on pain and suffering, most guilty defendants in wrongful death claims end up paying at least some money in compensation for this.
Loss of support and services. Compensation is also frequently awarded for loss of support and services. If you relied on this person for income, important responsibilities, or just help around the house, it needs to be acknowledged.
Loss of future earnings. Loss of future earnings is what it sounds like; it’s compensation for the earnings this person would have had were it not for the wrongful death.

Who Can Sue?

In most cases, spouses, children, and other close relatives can sue for wrongful death. However, there are some jurisdictions and some specific scenarios in which other people can sue for wrongful death as well. Talk to your lawyer to find out who can file a claim in your area.

Important Considerations

There are some important considerations you’ll need to bear in mind before beginning to pursue a wrongful death claim:

The statute of limitations. Understand that there’s a statute of limitations for wrongful death claims. The exact length of time varies from location to location, but you’ll usually only have a year to a few years before you’re no longer able to file a claim.
Evidence. If you want to prove that the defendant is responsible for the wrongful death, you’ll need evidence to do it. Your lawyer can guide you with more specific detail here, but you should do everything you can to gather and preserve evidence that shows what happened.
Proving negligence. Proving negligence can be difficult in a court of law, as you’ll have to prove four separate things: duty of care, a breach of duty, causation, and damages.
Timelines. Wrongful death claims can sometimes take a long time to pursue. It may also take some time and energy on your part. Make sure you’re prepared for this before you begin the journey.
Fees. Many wrongful death attorneys will not charge you unless you win compensation. Either way, make sure you understand the fees for which you are responsible before you enlist these professional services.

Tragedies can never be undone, but it is possible to seek justice and compensation with the help of a skilled attorney. If you’ve recently lost a loved one in an event that was attributable to someone else, it’s a good idea to talk to a lawyer as soon as possible.

Lifestyle

Kat Marie Alvarez: Where Innovation Meets Regulation

Published

2 hours ago

January 23, 2026

Michelle Langton

Regulation is often thought of as a limitation, yet in healthcare, it also serves as a foundation for building models that endure. For Kat Marie Alvarez, Founder and CEO of KATALYST & CO, the framework of rules established by agencies like CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid) and the OIG ( office of the Inspector General) create opportunities to design systems that are compliant, ethical, and transformative. Her approach demonstrates that regulation can be a platform for innovation when it is interpreted with both technical rigor and vision.

Kat’s 25-year career reflects this philosophy. A former nurse who advanced into executive leadership and strategy, she has led $2.7B+ P&L operations, advised on over $5B in healthcare transactions, and guided value based organizations including Innovacare, Cano Health, WellMed, Centene, and Humana through periods of exponential scaling. Her perspective combines clinical, financial, and regulatory experience, giving her a unique ability to design structures that support integrity and accountability while driving measurable outcomes.

Turning Statutes into Strategy

For Kat, regulation serves as a framework for building smarter and more ethical models. She interprets CMS guidance and OIG rules as levers for innovation, using them to advance integrity and accountability. With the CMS V28 risk adjustment model, Alvarez refined coding practices, strengthened clinical documentation, and structured risk frameworks that reward accuracy and elevate standards of care. In addressing RADV audits, she crafted strategies that protect stakeholders while keeping patient outcomes at the forefront. She aligns compliance, cost, and care in equal measure. Her current work as a contributor to the CMS IDea Challenge, an initiative focused on strengthening the foundation of trust in our system, further echoes her commitment to advancing regulations in ways that unlock innovation while safeguarding the integrity of care.

Her interpretive approach brings discipline and vision to every challenge. She engages stakeholders to redesign workflows that meet regulatory requirements and enhance the patient experience. Each policy becomes a mechanism to strengthen accountability and operational precision, shaping a system that is both compliant and humane.

Innovation Built Within Boundaries

At KATALYST & CO, this interpretive approach is carried into every project. Kat has integrated predictive analytics and AI-driven tools into care models, with safeguards that ensure interventions remain clinician-led and ethically sound. For example, AI flags in chronic disease management are connected to human-led actions that improve patient care. The result is a model that benefits from technology while preserving accountability and clinical integrity.

Staffing and infrastructure provide another example of her philosophy in action. By leveraging offshore BPO operations in Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe, KATALYST & CO extends capacity for health plans and providers. These expansions are carefully designed to meet data security, licensure, and jurisdictional requirements, ensuring that global reach is paired with local compliance. It is a system that balances scale with responsibility.

The Art of Influence Through Alignment

Kat often describes her role as translating complexity into clarity. Whether she is working with payers, providers, or investors, she builds consensus by grounding ambitious strategies in the language of statute. Value-based care models, utilization management programs, and clinical frameworks are designed to prove compliant ROI for stakeholders while maintaining patient focus.

Her approach begins with people. In integrations, partnerships, and platform builds, she respects legacy strengths, listens to frontline voices, and creates systems that are not only efficient but also trusted. This ensures that compliance does not feel like restriction, but like a structure that supports innovation and adoption.

Redefining the Future of Compliance and Care

KATALYST & CO is scaling with $10M in initial funding, expanded international operations, and a growing advisory portfolio. Under Kat’s leadership, the firm is showing how regulation can be a foundation for both innovation and durability. She demonstrates that lasting progress in healthcare is achieved by leaders who know how to design systems that are bold, ethical, and deeply human.

By approaching regulation as a guide rather than a limitation, Kat Alvarez is building models that prove compliance and innovation can move forward together. Her formula ensures that the future of healthcare is shaped not only by ambition, but also by trust and responsibility.