Dillon & Findley

/Home/Medical Malpractice Attorney: Anchorage AK

Need Legal Counsel in Alaska? | Our Juneau and Anchorage Injury Attorneys Can Help!

We represent and advise local and national clients in the areas of complex civil litigation and trial practice, including business and commercial, construction, medical malpractice, personal injury and wrongful death, health and hospital care, employee-side labor law, insurance bad faith and professional licensing.

Dillon & Findley
1049 W 5th Ave #100
Anchorage AK 99501
Tel: 907 277-5400
Fax: 907 277-9896

Medical Malpractice or Doctor Mistake?

Let Our Juneau And Anchorage Medical Malpractice Lawyers Help

We have been representing Alaska patients who have been injured or have died as a result of medical malpractice since 1992. During that time, the law firm of Dillon and Findley, P.C. has recovered substantial damages for numerous individual patients and their families.

The law firm of Dillon and Findley is an AV rated firm, which is the highest legal and ethical rating obtainable through Martindale-Hubbell and is listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent lawyers. All of the partners at Dillon and Findley are listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Alaska Super Lawyers.

Our Anchorage and Juneau medical malpractice attorneys are very selective in the cases that we accept for representation. Before we will file a claim for medical malpractice against a health care provider, each case must pass a rigid and thorough screening process that entails a review of medical records and relevant medical literature. Additionally, an independent and objective expert witness or witnesses review the claim to determine whether the offending health care provider was negligent and whether the provider caused injury or death to a patient. As a result of our screening criteria, our firm accepts only those cases demonstrating clear evidence of malpractice and significant damages to the patient and/or their family.

Unfortunately, medical malpractice is a pervasive problem in our health care delivery system. Data from one 2005 study of over 39 million medical patient records indicated that 241,000 deaths during Medicare hospitalizations were attributable to one or more common preventable medical errors.

Some studies have indicated that more people die annually due to medical errors occurring in hospitals than from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS. The AARP, extrapolating data from a 1990 Harvard study, calculated the death rate attributable to medical errors at approximately 180,000 per year. This equates to three jumbo jets crashing every two days. The non-partisan Institute of Medicine concluded that over 15 million incidents of medical harm caused by medical errors occur each year. If ranked by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), medical malpractice would be the 6th leading cause of death in this country.

Although we in Alaska are fortunate to have an overall high quality of medical practitioners and healthcare institutions, we are not immune to injuries and deaths caused by negligent medical care.

In order to bring a medical malpractice claim in Alaska, you must file a complaint within 2 years of the date of the incident giving rise to the claim. There are two exceptions to this general rule, one is the judicially created discovery rule which allows two years from the discovery of the injury or death giving rise to the claim to file a complaint and the other deals with patients who have not reached the age of majority at the time of their injury or death.

To bring a claim of medical malpractice, Alaska law requires proof by a preponderance of the evidence that a healthcare provider fell below the standard of care in rendering treatment and that this breach of standard of care caused injury or death. This requirement is known as the “burden of proof” required in every medical malpractice action. To satisfy this burden, expert witness opinion testimony is required except for claims alleging a failure to provide adequate informed consent.

In addition to the burden of proof requirement, damages are also an important and determinative consideration in bringing a medical malpractice action. The Alaska State Legislature has passed laws severely limiting the ability of patients or their families from pursuing medical malpractice claims. As a result, regardless of the severity of injury or death, non-economic damages are limited to a maximum of $400,000. Unless there is a significant injury or death, those damages are limited to $250,000.

Additionally, the Alaska Legislature has provided a unique advantage to medical malpractice insurance carriers and non-insured healthcare providers by limiting the ability to obtain subrogation for past medical expenses incurred. For example, if your private insurance carrier pays for health care benefits under a private healthcare plan for injuries or death caused by medical malpractice, those amounts can generally not be recovered by either the insurance company, the patient, or the patient’s family. Exceptions to this rule include persons insured under a federal program such as Medicare or Medicaid.

Fortunately, there are no limitations under Alaska law for the recovery of economic losses.

While $400,000 and even $250,000 may seem like a substantial sum, the cost of prosecuting a medical malpractice action is almost always substantial. Given the requirement of expert opinion testimony and the difficulty in litigating a medical malpractice claim, these amounts can be substantially reduced by the out of pocket cost of bringing an action to settlement or trial. In our experience, medical malpractice actions can result in out of pocket costs exceeding $200,000 for some matters that proceed to trial. While Dillon and Findley advance these amounts, the patient or their family repays them if a settlement is reached or a judgment is obtained at the end of a case.

Another significant consideration before bringing a claim for medical malpractice is the “loser pay” provision under Alaska law. In Alaska, the losing or non- prevailing party can be subject to paying a portion of the opposing party’s legal fees and costs. This factor must be considered before bringing any malpractice action.

With the law firm of Dillon and Findley, you can rest assured that we will give a thorough and thoughtful review of your potential case and provide you with our studied opinion on the merits of your case and whether, in our opinion, it can or should be prosecuted. While we will not and cannot pursue a claim without merit or when it is not in the financial interest of the client or the firm, we will pursue those cases, which we accept for representation with a dedicated effort towards a satisfactory resolution for the client. Our success in these matters over the past 17 years demonstrates our commitment to our client base and to our professional ability. Please contact our Juneau and Anchorage injury lawyers now for a free consultation.