Section 3 Nature of Action

• Library: Damages 2012

The wrongful death action is a remedy conferred strictly by statute and, as such, the plaintiff’s rights are limited to those specifically provided by the statute. See:

Johnson ex rel. Wilken v. Jones, 67 S.W.3d 702, 706 (Mo. App. W.D. 2002) Schiles v. Gaertner, 659 S.W.2d 791, 793 (Mo. App. E.D. 1983) State ex rel. Jewish Hosp. of St. Louis v. Buder, 540 S.W.2d 100, 104 (Mo. App. E.D. 1976)

The cause of action for wrongful death is not transmitted to the plaintiffs by way of the survival of any right of action that the deceased might have exercised had the deceased lived. Sennett v. Nat’l Healthcare Corp., 272 S.W.3d 237 (Mo. App. S.D. 2008). As with any statute, the language must be...