Suing For Wrongful Death If Your Loved One Had Preexisting Conditions
Posted December 02, 2025 in Personal Injury
This question comes up more often than you’d think. Families worry that because their loved one had diabetes, heart disease, or some other medical condition, they won’t be able to hold anyone accountable for a wrongful death. But having a preexisting condition doesn’t disqualify your claim. Not at all. What matters in South Carolina is whether someone’s negligence caused or significantly contributed to your loved one’s death.
Understanding The Eggshell Skull Rule
South Carolina follows something called the “eggshell skull” doctrine. The principle is straightforward. Defendants take victims as they find them. If your loved one was more vulnerable because of an existing health condition, that vulnerability doesn’t let the responsible party off the hook. They can’t turn around and say, “Well, this person was already sick, so we shouldn’t be liable.” Think about it this way. Someone with a heart condition dies in a crash caused by a drunk driver. The driver can’t argue they’re less responsible because the victim’s heart made them more susceptible to fatal injuries. They caused the accident. They’re responsible for what happened next, regardless of the victim’s health status before the collision.
Proving Causation Is What Counts
You don’t need to prove your loved one was in perfect health. You need to prove the defendant’s actions caused their death. At Woron and Dhillon, LLC, that’s where we focus our efforts when building your case. Medical evidence becomes really important in these situations. We’ll often bring in medical professionals who can review the records and explain exactly how the negligent act, not the preexisting condition, led to the death. Sometimes both factors play a role. Even then, South Carolina law allows you to recover compensation.
When Preexisting Conditions Actually Matter
We won’t tell you that preexisting conditions are completely irrelevant. They can affect your case in specific ways:
- Compensation for lost income might factor in reduced life expectancy
- Medical records become even more important for establishing the actual cause of death
- Defense attorneys will dig deeper into your loved one’s medical history
- Expert testimony often becomes necessary to separate the condition from what the defendant did
These complications don’t make your case unwinnable. They just mean we’ve got to build a stronger foundation with better evidence.
What Defense Attorneys Will Try
Insurance companies aren’t on your side. Their lawyers will emphasize preexisting conditions every chance they get. They’ll argue your loved one would’ve died soon anyway. Or they’ll claim the medical condition was really what killed them, not their client’s negligence.
These arguments can sound convincing to people who don’t understand the law. But they often don’t hold up when you’ve got solid medical evidence and the right legal team. Our Columbia wrongful death lawyer team knows these tactics inside and out. We gather comprehensive medical evidence, work with qualified experts, and build a clear timeline that shows exactly how the defendant’s actions led to your loved one’s death.
How This Affects Compensation
Preexisting conditions can influence the amount of damages you’re awarded, particularly when calculating future lost earnings. If your loved one had a condition that medical evidence shows would’ve reduced their life expectancy, courts will consider that. But this doesn’t touch other forms of compensation. Medical expenses from the final illness or injury? Those are recoverable. Funeral and burial costs? You can claim those. The devastating loss of companionship, guidance, and support your family suffered. That’s compensable too, regardless of what health issues existed before. South Carolina law allows families to recover full compensation for all losses that the wrongful death directly caused.
A Columbia wrongful death lawyer can review what actually happened, look at the medical evidence, and give you an honest assessment of your family’s options. Your loved one’s preexisting condition shouldn’t become a shield that protects people who acted negligently.