Mar. 28--Eliott Carmi's parents said they had considered filing a civil lawsuit against Dr. Eric D. Thomas after their son's suicide in November.

But Washington law prevents parents of deceased adult children from recovering losses in a wrongful death lawsuit, unless a parent is financially dependent on the adult child. Generally, the only people in Washington who can sue for wrongful death on behalf of deceased adults are their spouses or children. The parents of deceased juveniles under the age of 18 are allowed to sue for wrongful death in the state.

Carmi was 25 at the time of his death, and he had no wife or children.

"It's not really a fair statute," Olympia medical malpractice attorney Jeannie Sockle said.

A bill was recently under consideration in the Legislature that would have allowed parents of adult children to seek damages in wrongful death lawsuits under certain circumstances, even when they were not financially dependent on a deceased child. The bill failed.

Carmi's parents, Laura Holgate and Patrick Russell of Portland, said they would have welcomed a change in the law.

"The law as it stands now is wrong and should be overturned," Russell said.

However, even if the bill had passed, it would not have allowed Carmi's parents to seek damages for their son's death. Deaths that occurred before the legislation passed would not have been covered.

Dana Childers, executive director of the Liability Reform Coalition, said she opposed the legislation because it would increase costs for taxpayers.

"Liability is not free, it is costly," she said in a recent interview. "It is extremely costly to the taxpayers."

Childers said the Washington Attorney General's Office has estimated that if the "wrongful-death" legislation were passed, local governments would have seen increased litigation costs of up to $19.6 million every two years.

State Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, one of the sponsors of the bill that would have allowed parents of deceased adult children to file wrongful death lawsuits, said he plans to reintroduce the legislation.

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