Traditionally, it was thought that the value of a wrongful death claim where the adult decedent was not survived by a child or spouse, but only survived by his parents, was relatively modest. However, the recent Pennsylvania Superior Court decision in Rettger v. UPMC Shadyside in 2010, which was denied appeal this year, belies this traditional view.
In Rettger, the Superior Court affirmed an Allegheny County jury’s award of $2.5 million in wrongful death damages to the parents of a 24-year-old, unmarried man who died due to complications of an untreated brain infection. The court held in Rettger that the loss of services as set forth under the wrongful death statute encompasses more than just “household chores” that the decedent provided to his parents. Instead, services as used in the context of the wrongful death statute extend to the profound emotional and psychological loss suffered on the death of a parent or child.
