You entrust your health to your doctors, nurses, and other medical providers, and you count on them to protect it. The provider-patient relationship creates a duty of care, obligating your medical provider to act as a reasonable provider would in a similar situation. If your doctor violates that duty of care and you are harmed and suffer damages as a result, they have committed medical malpractice.

Unfortunately, the confidence you put in your medical providers may be misplaced. A recent study identified medical errors in hospitals and other medical facilities as the third leading cause of death in the United States, claiming over 250,000 lives every year. That’s not even counting medical malpractice that causes serious or permanent injury, but which is not lethal.

If you have suffered an injury due to a medical provider’s negligence, you are not alone. But that’s little comfort when you are suffering from a problem your doctor made worse instead of better. Your injury may have left you unable to work or needing additional medical care to address the mistake your doctor made. You deserve to recover for your damages, and your doctor should be held to account. Attorney Eric Derleth can help.

Contact Eric Derleth, medical malpractice lawyer in Anchorage and Soldotna at 907-262-9164 today to learn more about how our law firm can help you. We never charge a fee in personal injury or medical malpractice cases unless and until we win your case.

Common Medical Malpractice Mistakes

  • Surgical errors: All surgery carries some risk, and not every negative or unforeseen outcome is the result of malpractice. However, certain actions, like performing unnecessary surgery, negligently severing blood vessels or nerves, operating on the wrong limb, and failing to protect against postoperative infection may constitute medical malpractice.
  • Failure to diagnose: Prompt diagnosis of medical conditions, especially life-threatening conditions such as cancer or heart disease, is essential to give the patient the best chance of recovery and quality of life. Negligent failures to diagnose an illness may result in untimely death and increased suffering.
  • Medical misdiagnosis: Negligently misdiagnosing a disease can not only lead to failure to treat the existing condition, but may result in unnecessary, costly, and harmful treatment for the incorrectly diagnosed condition.
  • Medication errors: Prescribing or administering the wrong medicine, or an incorrect dosage, can have serious, even lethal outcomes for patients.
  • Federal tort claims: The Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) gives citizens the capacity to sue the government for issues such as Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital malpractice and malpractice by other government-funded medical providers.
  • Anesthesia errors: Anesthesia is necessary for many procedures, but incorrect dosing may lead to a patient having insufficient pain control during surgery if the dose is too small, or death if too much anesthesia is administered.
  • Birth injury: Cerebral palsy and many other preventable birth injuries may cause an otherwise healthy infant to need lifelong care and to have diminished quality of life. A parent may need to leave employment to care for a child who is severely disabled due to a birth injury.

Medical Malpractice Claims in Alaska

Between 2012 and 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that 197 medical malpractice cases in Alaska resulted in payments to people who were injured. If that number seems low, remember that not every incidence of medical malpractice results in a lawsuit, and those cases that do may be difficult to prove.

Medical malpractice cases are among some of the most challenging personal injury cases because of the difficulty of proving that the doctor’s negligence caused the patient’s damages. After all, most patients who consult a doctor do so because they already have health issues, perhaps serious ones.

In order to prevail in a malpractice case in Alaska, you need to work with a medical malpractice lawyer who is known for thorough investigation and attention to details, which can make or break a medical malpractice case. Attorney Eric Derleth is known as “the Trial Guy” because of his meticulous preparation for trial and his ability to communicate effectively with juries—the people who hold his clients’ futures in their hands.

Alaska Damages for Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice victims in Alaska can seek compensation for a variety of damages, including:

  • Wrongful death
  • Medical expenses
  • Lost earnings
  • Physical therapy costs
  • Pain and suffering
  • Loss of consortium (companionship)

Non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering and loss of consortium, are capped at $250,000, or $400,000 in cases of severe and permanent physical impairment or death. To learn what you may be able to recover based on the facts of your case, speak with an experienced Alaska medical malpractice lawyer.

In most cases, the statute of limitation to sue for medical malpractice in Alaska is two years. If you believe you or your loved one were injured due to a doctor’s negligence, you should consult an attorney as soon as possible, or you could lose your right to sue forever.

Work with a Skilled Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Anchorage, Soldotna, and Beyond

Alaska native Eric Derleth has over 25 years of experience representing injury victims, including victims of medical malpractice, in courts throughout the state. While Eric is thoroughly prepared to try every injury case he accepts, his reputation and preparation often result in opposing counsel offering his clients a favorable settlement without the need for a trial.

There is no risk to you in consulting an attorney regarding your malpractice claim; our office offers no-obligation consultations and only receives compensation if your case is successful. To learn more about Alaska law, and how medical malpractice lawyer can help you, call Eric Derleth at 907-262-9164 or contact our law office. From his office in Soldotna, Eric Derleth serves clients in Anchorage, the Mat-Su Valley, Juneau, and throughout Alaska. Call today for a free, confidential consultation.