Alaska

• 2 years. (§09.10.070 – Actions for Torts, For Injury to Personal Property, For Certain Statutory Liabilities, and Against Peace Officers and Coroners to Be Brought in Two Years)
• Medical malpractice – 2 years with Discovery Rule (SOL runs from when injury is or should have been discovered).  If plaintiff is an infant, statute of limitations is two 2 years from eighth birthday.  (§09.10.140 – Disabilities of Minority and Incompetency)

• Pain and suffering limited to $250,000 for single injury.
• Compensatory damages - $400,000 or life expectancy in years multiplied by $8000 per year, whichever is greater.  (§09.17.010(b) – Noneconomic damages).
• Cases involving severe disfigurement or severe permanent physical impairment have a compensatory damages limitation of the greater of $1,000,000 or life expectancy multiplied by $25,000, whichever is greater.  (§09.17.010(c) – Noneconomic damages)
• Punitive damages – greater of three times compensatory damages or $500,000. (§09.17.020 (f) – Punitive Damages)

• 2 years. (§09.55.580 – Action For Wrongful Death)

• Compensatory damages - $400,000 or life expectancy in years multiplied by $8000 per year, whichever is greater.  (§09.17.010(b) – Noneconomic damages)
• Cases involving severe disfigurement or severe permanent physical impairment have a compensatory damages limitation of the greater of $1,000,000 or life expectancy multiplied by $25,000, whichever is greater. (§09.17.010(c) – Noneconomic damages)
• Punitive damages – greater of three times compensatory damages or $500,000.
  (§09.17.020 (f) – Punitive Damages)

• Alaska Department of Health and Social Services
• Health Care Facilities Certification and Licensing
• Office of the Long Term Care Ombudsman
• Adult Protective Services

• Nursing Home Administrators – Title 8 (Business and Professions), Chapter 70 (Nursing Home Administrators)
• Residents’ Rights
• Protection of Vulnerable Adults – (Alaska Statutes, Title 47 (Welfare), Chapter 24 (Protection of Vulnerable Adults))

• Your Nursing Home Has Likely Been Cited For Violations

Bloomberg reported that more than 90 percent of U.S. nursing homes in each of the past three years were cited for violating federal standards, according to a government report. The article substantiates that many nursing homes are simply not doing an adequate job caring for our nations elderly population. According to the inspector general's report for the Department of Health and Human Services...

• Health Care Reform Act Allocates Funds For Thorough Background Checks Of Health Care Workers

Six states will be receiving federal grants from the Health Care Reform Act to perform thorough background checks on employees at nursing homes and other facilities that house vulnerable people. While some states already employ background checks of new employees, the new funding is intended to be more exhaustive that the measures currently in place. Employees must pass a check of state and federal criminal records, abuse and neglect registries and multiple databases including the Nurse Aide Registry....

• Special Focus Facilities: The Worst Nursing Homes Of All

I get a large number of questions from nursing home patients and families regarding focused on finding the 'best' facilities available. For some reason, I get an even larger number of people who ask me who the 'worst' facilities are. Maybe there's some sport associated with identifying these facilities? But for to today, let's feed the need to identify the poor performing nursing homes-- the Special Focus Facilities.

If you are a nursing home operator or employee the Special Focus Facility (SFF) is definitely a club you want no part of. Rather, the SFF was created by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) as an assemblage of facilities that deserve special recognition for the inadequate care they typically provide to their patients....

$83,000 Is Just Too Much To Pay For Sub-Standard Nursing Home CareGet your barf-bag ready! A recent report by MetLife has concluded that private nursing homes in the United States now average more than $83,000 per year.  At a time when many seniors have watched their nest egg dwindle, skilled nursing care rates increased 4.6% from 2009 to 2010.

Though nursing home rates vary from region to region, nursing home operators in Alaska must be catering to a wealthy crowd as the daily nursing home rates top the charts at $687 for a private room and $610 for a semi-private (shared) room.

• DePuy ASR Complications: Heavy Metal Poisoning (Cobalt & Chromium)

As lawyers handling claims related to DePuy ASR defects, we have clients who have suffered varying types if injuries related to the defecting hip replacement and resurfacing products.  

Some of the most severe injuries are found in clients with metal poisoning from their implants.  In some of these cases, the metals have reached toxic levels that significantly impact all aspects of our clients' lives and have left them permanently disabled.