Thompson v. Wing

The issue in this case is whether a judgment for medical malpractice entered in favor of a plaintiff during her lifetime bars a subsequent wrongful death action brought on behalf of her beneficiaries when both actions are based on the same tortious conduct. We hold that in such a situation a subsequent wrongful death action is not barred by the language of the wrongful death statute, R.C. Chapter 2125, but that collateral estoppel applies to the parties in the wrongful death action. In the present case, however, collateral estoppel does not bar appellee Thompson from bringing a wrongful death…