Medical Malpractice Claims In Alaska

There are motor vehicle accidents, slip-and-falls, trip-and-falls, and all sorts of negligence cases that are prosecuted by attorneys in Alaska. However, did you know that when a doctor or other medical professional acts negligently, there is an Anchorage Medical Malpractice Attorney who is able to help you bring such a claim.

There are many similarities between medical malpractice and other personal injury cases. For example, there is a two-year statute of limitations, meaning that any lawsuit arising out of the wrongful acts of a medical professional must be brought within two years of the date the incident occurred. At times, this limit may be extended if you did not “discover” the malpractice until some later date, but that creates a burden that may be difficult to overcome.

Also similar is the “standard of care” that must be shown. In both scenarios, it must be shown that the person who you believe is liable did not exercise reasonable care. In the medical malpractice scenario, an Anchorage Medical Malpractice Attorney must help you prove that the doctor failed to exercise that degree of care that a doctor in his position should have exercised in a similar circumstance. If the doctor, nurse or other person did not exercise that care, they are likely liable to the person who was injured.

Again similar is the fact that, once liability is show, an injured party must prove damages, or the fact that they were actually hurt by the negligence committed. However, in the medical malpractice scenario, there are damage caps when it comes to non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, loss of services, loss of consortium, and the like. Specifically, the cap is generally set at $400,000, or $8,000 per year of remaining life expectancy. For severe disfigurement, that cap increases to $1 million.

A quality Anchorage Medical Malpractice Attorney will also understand that medical malpractice cases are very expensive should they go to trial. Unlike car accidents, which will have very few witnesses, and perhaps one expert on each side, medical malpractice cases will often require multiple experts to testify as to (i) whether or not the medical professional was negligent, (ii) how the alleged negligence affected the patient and (iii) the value of the injuries.

As you can see, there is a lot to know when it comes to prosecuting a medical malpractice claim. It is therefore not advisable to “go it alone.” Instead, utilizing the services of a qualified attorney or law firm with many resources gives you the best chance to achieve the maximum amount of compensation.