Question

A 93-year-old woman, diagnosed with cancer, takes pain medication to deal with the cancer pain. She becomes dizzy and lightheaded as a side effect of the medication. This causes her to fall in the bathroom and hit her head on the bathtub. Her fall causes a brain bleed which, ultimately, causes her death.What was the victim’s manner of death? Explain.

Answer 1

The victim's manner of death in this case was accidental. This is because the victim's death was caused by an unforeseen and unintentional event, namely, the fall in the bathroom due to the side effects of the pain medication. Since the fall was not intentional and was not foreseeable given the circumstances, the manner of death is classified as an accident.