According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 49,300 Americans died of suicide in 2023, a 30% increase from 2002. Suicide loss survivors—the family members, friends, and colleagues of the person who died of suicide—are often left wondering why it happened and what could have been done to prevent it.
In the past, survivors may have held the person who died solely responsible or blamed themselves in some cases. But, increasingly, survivors are looking to hold individuals and institutions liable for the suicide of their loved one.
In this article, we’ll look at:
- how to prove a wrongful death lawsuit involving suicide
- examples of civil cases based on suicide, and
- why it’s important to get legal help if you decide to file a suicide-related lawsuit.
But first, if you or someone you know is living with suicidal thoughts or behavior, please reach out for help.
How to Prove Civil Liability for Suicide
The general rule is that suicide is a death caused by an intentional act that is the responsibility of the person who died. But courts have recognized exceptions to this rule and found civil liability for suicide in some situations, including when:
- a person or institution with a special duty of care fails to prevent a suicide
- a work-related injury results in suicide
- a drug maker fails to warn that its products increase the risk of suicide, and
- harassing, abusive, or bullying behavior leads to suicide.
A person suing over a suicide (the “plaintiff”) typically must show that the individual or institution being sued (the “defendant”) negligently (carelessly) caused or failed to prevent a suicide.
Who Is Legally Responsible When Someone Dies of Suicide?
Ordinary people typically aren’t liable when a relative, friend, romantic partner, colleague, or acquaintance dies of suicide. But, in rare cases, individuals and institutions can be liable when they act or fail to act in a way that causes someone to die by suicide. Let’s take a look at a few examples.
Health Care Professionals
Psychiatrists and other health care professionals owe a duty of care to their patients. Health care professionals who violate (breach) the duty of care can be liable when a patient dies by suicide.
For example, a psychiatrist who knows a patient is thinking about suicide but fails to take action to protect the patient from self-harm can be liable for the wrongful death of a patient. The key question in these types of cases is whether the suicide was foreseeable. Did the health care provider know—or should the provider have known—that the patient was at risk of suicide? If so, did the provider take reasonable action to prevent it? Examples of reasonable action include ordering intensive inpatient or outpatient treatment, prescribing medication, modifying the treatment plan as needed, and providing appropriate follow-up care.
Wrongful death cases against health care providers are a type of medical malpractice case. Medical malpractice cases are complex, especially when they involve suicide. A knowledgeable lawyer who specializes in these types of cases can help.
Learn more about medical malpractice claims against psychiatrists.
Example: Chris Cornell, the lead singer of Soundgarden, died by suicide in 2017. His family sued his doctor for negligently prescribing him medication, which led to his death. The family reached a confidential settlement with the doctor over the malpractice lawsuit in 2021.
Schools
In 2023, suicide was the second-leading cause of death for teens and young adults, ages 10-34. Parents of students who die of suicide have filed lawsuits against counselors, coaches, administrators, school districts, and other academic professionals and institutions for causing or failing to prevent their children’s suicide.
Schools owe a special duty of care to the students in their care. When a student dies of suicide, parents typically argue that the school and school personnel somehow violated that duty of care by, for example:
- failing to provide adequate counseling
- failing to prevent harassment and bullying by fellow students or staff
- ignoring warning signs that a student was at risk of suicide
- failing to warn parents that a student was having suicidal thoughts, and
- failing to implement adequate suicide prevention measures on buildings and bridges.
Lawsuits like these are sometimes settled out of court. But when they go to trial, parents face an uphill battle. Public schools are often immune from lawsuits and proving why anyone, especially a young person, died of suicide is a challenge.
Examples: Katie Meyer, captain of Stanford University’s soccer team, died of suicide in early 2022. Several months later, her parents filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Stanford, claiming that the university had negligently and recklessly informed her of a disciplinary charge, causing an acute stress reaction that led to her suicide. The Meyer family and Stanford settled the lawsuit in January 2026, announcing that the school would adopt the principles of Katie Meyer's Law (AB 1575), create a Katie Meyer Leadership Award, and retire Meyer's jersey. Katie Meyer's Law, enacted in California in 2024 in honor of Meyer, requires California's public colleges and universities to allow students to select an adviser to help them navigate the disciplinary process.
Rylie Wagner, a 13-year-old girl, died of suicide in 2017. Her parents sued the school district, alleging that school officials ignored complaints that their daughter was bullied and allowed a hostile environment to develop, resulting in her suicide. The Wagner family and the school district reached a confidential settlement in 2019.
Prisons and Jails
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, suicide was the leading cause of jail deaths between 2000 and 2019. Family members of people who die of suicide in custody may sue corrections officers and jails for failing to keep their loved ones safe, but they face legal barriers.
Most lawsuits filed on behalf of people who die by suicide while incarcerated are brought under the Eighth Amendment. Plaintiffs typically must show that the jail staffers’ deliberate indifference to the incarcerated person’s mental health and safety was “cruel and unusual” punishment. This is a much more difficult standard to prove than the standard used for medical malpractice cases.
Suicide loss survivors must also overcome sovereign immunity rules that typically shield state and federal government institutions and their employees from liability.
Example: Melissa Rice died of suicide while in custody at the Jackson County Detention Center (JCDC) in January 2019. Earlier that day, she had attempted suicide in the back of a police car. Her son sued the sheriff responsible for managing the jail, 10 of his deputies, and the sheriff’s insurer. The lawsuit alleged that Rice should have been checked four times hourly per the sheriff’s policy for prisoners having suicidal thoughts. The parties reached a settlement in 2022, with Rice’s estate receiving around $740,000 in damages.
Workers’ Compensation
Employees who get hurt on the job can often file workers’ compensation claims and receive benefits. Self-inflicted injuries typically aren’t covered, but courts have found that when self-inflicted injuries are the result of work-related injuries or stress, employees or their surviving family members may be eligible for benefits.
In many of these types of cases, an employee suffers an industrial injury, like a chemical burn or a fall from a ladder, and then spirals into a depression, which leads to suicide. Other cases involve stress-related injuries from high-pressure jobs like law enforcement.
In most states, to receive death benefits after a suicide, family members must show that the deceased employee suffered a work-related injury (physical or mental) that caused a disturbance of mind, which resulted in suicide.
Examples: Joseph Thomas, a computer engineer, died of suicide in 2016. He had recently taken a job at Uber. His widow claims that Uber’s intense work culture was at fault. She is seeking access to $720,000 in workers’ compensation benefits.
Jonathan Meager, an employee of the Saratoga County Sewer District, died by suicide in 2017. He had sustained a work-related head injury in 2015. The Workers’ Compensation Board ruled that his suicide was directly linked to his on-the-job accident and granted his widow benefits. His employer appealed. Meager’s doctor testified that there was a noticeable difference in Meager’s personality, demeanor, and speech after the head injury. He also concluded that Meager’s suicide was caused by his depression, which resulted from his head injury. The court agreed and upheld the Board’s decision to grant benefits.
Pharmaceutical Companies
All manufacturers have a duty to make safe products and provide appropriate safety warnings to their customers. Pharmaceutical companies in particular have a duty to let consumers know about all potential side effects of prescription medications.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are commonly prescribed to treat depression. Like most medications, SSRIs (called “antidepressants”) have side effects, including an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in patients suffering from depression and other psychiatric disorders.
Family members and other survivors of suicide loss have sued drug companies like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) after their loved ones died of suicide shortly after taking prescribed antidepressants. If families can overcome procedural barriers like preemption, they typically have to show whether SSRIs increase the risk of suicide, whether the manufacturer was aware of the risk, and whether a warning would have prevented a doctor or nurse practitioner from prescribing the medication.
Example: Peter Schlif, a 16-year-old boy, died of suicide in 2004 after taking the antidepressant Cymbalta for about a month. His doctor didn’t tell Schlif or his mother that some Cymbalta users experience suicidal thoughts and behaviors and that one participant in the trial of the drug had died of suicide. Schlif’s family reached a confidential settlement with Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of Cymbalta, in 2013.
Learn more about suing over prescribed medications.
Harassment
Most cases involving potential civil liability for suicide are based on a theory of negligence. But some plaintiffs argue that the defendant’s harassing, abusive, or bullying behavior caused their loved one to die by suicide.
Example: Nina MacDermid died of suicide in 2003 after running up approximately $15,000 worth of credit card debt. Her husband sued Discover Financial Services, claiming that MacDermid’s death was the result of Discover Financial’s harassment over the debt. The court dismissed the wrongful death claim, finding that there was no proof that MacDermid’s death by suicide was a reasonably foreseeable result of anything Discover had done.
AI Companies
Artificial Intelligence companies, like all manufacturers, have a duty to make safe products and provide adequate safety warnings to their customers. Increasingly, people are turning to AI chatbots designed to engage users in realistic conversations for mental health support. While the trend makes sense given the accessibility crisis in traditional mental health care, it poses unique risks, particularly for vulnerable young people who are struggling with mental health issues.
Two groundbreaking lawsuits in California are testing whether AI companies can be held liable when their chatbots allegedly contribute to teen suicides.
Example: In August 2025, Matt and Maria Raine filed the first wrongful death lawsuit against OpenAI after their 16-year-old son died by suicide following interactions with ChatGPT that allegedly provided suicide instructions and encouraged him to plan what it called a "beautiful suicide." The lawsuit is in its early stages (Raine v. OpenAI, CGC-25-628528).
Criminal Liability for Suicide
It’s rare, but not unheard of, for prosecutors to file criminal charges against someone for another person's suicide.
Encouraging Suicide
Some states have laws criminalizing the encouragement or abetting of suicide. For example, in California, it’s a felony to deliberately aid, advise, or encourage another person to die by suicide. (Cal. Penal Code § 401 (2025).)
But even in states without specific criminal laws on encouraging suicide, prosecutors have found ways to hold people accountable for another person’s suicide in extreme cases. A high-profile example involved the death by suicide of Conrad Roy in Massachusetts. Prosecutors charged Michelle Carter with involuntary manslaughter based on messages she sent to him encouraging him to kill himself, telling him how and when he should kill himself, and scolding him when he wavered. Carter was found guilty as a youthful offender (she was 17 when Roy died) and sentenced to 15 months in jail.
Physician-Assisted Suicide
In the 1990s, Dr. Kevorkian became the leading figure in the national discussion surrounding physician-assisted suicide. In 1999, he was found guilty of second-degree murder after he videotaped himself injecting a patient suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease with lethal drugs. He was sentenced to 10 to 25 years and released in 2007 after he promised not to conduct another assisted suicide.
In the years since, many people’s attitudes have shifted. Some states have passed and many others are considering death with dignity laws, which allow terminally ill patients to end their lives with prescribed medication.
Getting Legal Help
The law concerning civil liability for suicide is complex and unsettled. A lawyer can answer your questions and help you figure out a path forward.
A lawyer will be able to explain your state’s wrongful death laws and have a network of experts you can rely on to help prove your case. Holding a person or organization liable for suicide is challenging, but not impossible. A lawyer can take on some of the burdens, so you can grieve the tragic loss of your loved one.
Most personal injury lawyers work on a contingency basis, meaning you don’t pay them a fee unless you receive compensation. Learn more about choosing a good personal injury lawyer.