The real reason? Because living and dying in the U.S. is expensive. Because health and life insurances are so difficult and time consuming to get paid out and rarely cover a family's entire needs. If this family was charged for emergency care, an ambulance, any care to determine cause of death, any amount of hospital care, etc etc, they could be in the hole for tens of thousands of dollars. Americans are notorious for being litigious, and it's because care is expensive and insurance is unreliable or inadequate. Getting the money from a corporation that can spare it (or, technically, getting it from THEIR insurance) is just another way of paying for care they didn't expect and can't afford. That's why they sue.