There’s More than Car Accidents In Alaska

Of course there are motor vehicle accidents, slip-and-falls, trip-and-falls, and other types of negligence cases that are commonly prosecuted by attorneys in Alaska. When it comes to the specific scenario where a doctor or other medical professional acts negligently, causing a victim injury, there are Anchorage Lawyers able to help bring such a medical malpractice claim for damages.

Medical malpractice and other personal injury cases have many similarities. First, there is a two-year statute of limitations, meaning that any lawsuit arising out of either a car accident or the wrongful acts of a medical professional has to be commenced within two years of the date of incident. There is the chance that, if a victim did not “discover” the malpractice until some later date, the deadline can be extended by the Court, but this is a difficult burden to overcome.

Another similarity is the level of care that must be shown. In either scenario, it must be shown that the defendant failed to exercise reasonable care and such a failure resulted in the victim’s damages. When it comes to medical malpractice, Anchorage Lawyers must help you prove that the doctor failed to exercise that level of care that another doctor in his position should have exercised in such a circumstance. Liability is typically proven when it is shown that the doctor, nurse or other medical professional failed to exercise that level of care.

Further similarities exist in that, once liability is demonstrated, a victim must prove damages, or how they were hurt by the negligence of the defendant. In the medical malpractice situation, however, damage caps exist that do not in other areas of personal injury. Indeed, when it comes to non-economic damages (i.e. pain and suffering, loss of services, loss of consortium), a plaintiff is not able to recover more than $400,000, or $8,000 per year of remaining life expectancy. If the victim is severely disfigured, that cap may increase to $1 million.

Experienced Anchorage Lawyers should also understand that medical malpractice cases are very expensive should they go to trial, as there are likely to be many witnesses, with multiple experts on each side to testify as to (a) whether or not the medical professional was negligent, (b) how the alleged negligence affected the patient and (c) the value of the injuries.

It is clear that there is a lot to know when it comes to prosecuting a medical malpractice claim and much of this knowledge is different from the standard personal injury claim. Therefore, rather than trying to prosecute such a claim on one’s own, a qualified law firm with significant resources and experience affords a victim the best chance at realizing the maximum amount of compensation.