If the woman’s family, looking for a big payday, decides to sue citing the alleged delays as the “but for,” this could get quite interesting.
The biggest problem is that when a 91 year-old person dies as a result of negligence or even criminal conduct, it's very hard to make the case for a huge monetary settlement. The plaintiffs in this type of case can't demonstrate any hardship related to loss of income, for example, and can't demonstrate that they are facing medical bills and other financial challenges as a result of the alleged negligence or crime.
And here's where it gets bizarre, and even unseemly ...
In cases like this, insurance companies and defendants with a lot of money use attorneys with a special expertise in law involving elderly victims. They are experts in calculating and documenting all of the financial costs of keeping someone like this 91 year-old woman alive -- because these costs would offset any financial loss the plaintiffs can document. In effect, these lawyers will make a very compelling case that -- from a purely financial perspective -- the defendant(s) did the plaintiffs a favor by causing the elderly person's death. How effed-up is that?