Health Law

• In re Jonas H.
  HEALTH LAW Supreme Court of Alaska (2022) Jake Sherman In In re Jonas H., 513 P.3d 1019 (Alaska 2022), the supreme court held that the superior court must explicitly make or incorporate findings relevant to every contested Myers factor to grant an order for the involuntary administration of psychotropic medication. (Id. at 1026). Jonas’s schizophrenia began to worsen ...
• Matter of A.S.
  CRIMINAL LAW / HEALTH LAW Supreme Court of Alaska (2022) Joseph Perry In Matter of A.S., 2022 WL 2965545 (Alaska 2022) (unpublished), the supreme court held that the testimony of a psychiatrist concerning a criminal defendant’s previous acts of violence and psychotic disorder provided adequate evidence that the defendant posed a harm to themselves or others, and could ...
• Matter of Carl S.
  HEALTH LAW Supreme Court of Alaska (2022) Elza Bouhassira In the Matter of Carl S., 510 P.3d 486 (Alaska 2022), the supreme court held that a man’s due process rights were violated when he was civilly committed based on an unpled claim of grave disability. (Id. at 488). On August 28, 2020, the man was brought to the ...
• Trescot v. Foy
  HEALTH LAW Mary Beth Barksdale In Trescot v. Foy, 492 P.3d 1014 (Alaska 2021), the supreme court held that in reviewing a petition for new trial in a medical malpractice case, the trial court erred in admitting the affidavits of jurors as evidence supporting the petition, reversing the trial court’s grant of a mistrial for lack of ...
• Smith v. State
  CRIMINAL JUSTICE Mary Beth Barksdale In Smith v. State, 484 P.3d 610 (Alaska Ct. App. 2021), the court of appeals held that, where inordinate expenses for travel and housing would arise, a district judge may limit the radius for calling prospective jurors for a criminal case to a distance lower than the 50-mile radius established by Alaska ...
• Titus v. Department of Corrections
  HEALTH LAW Hannah Rogers In Titus v. Department of Corrections, 496 P.3d 412, the supreme court held that “the matter at issue” in determining “whether an expert’s training, expertise, or certification is directly related to the matter at issue” in a medical malpractice action, refers to the underlying circumstances of the medical event or treatment giving rise ...
• Matter of April S
  HEALTH LAW Emma Giusto In Matter of April S, 499 P.3d 1011 (Alaska 2021), the supreme court held that the Office of Children’s Services (OCS) could not admit a minor for voluntary commitment under the parental admission statute. (Id. at 1013). April, a minor in OCS custody, was brought to a hospital where staff placed her under ...
• Bunton v. Alaska Airlines, Inc.
  HEALTH LAW Peter Graham In Bohn v. Providence Health Services – Washington, 484 P.3d 584 (Alaska 2021), the supreme court held that a healthcare provider was not immunized under Alaska’s Health Care Decisions Act (HCDA) when the provider denied decisionmaking authority to a patient’s agent and surrogate under the good faith belief that the patient’s agent and ...
• Matter of Mabel B.
  HEALTH LAW Peter Graham In the Matter of Mabel B., 485 P.3d 1018 (Alaska 2021), the supreme court held that the substantive due process rights of involuntarily committed mental health patients are violated when procedural delays to patients’ release or extended hospitalization are caused by understaffed mental health hospitalization facilities. (Id. at 1026). State law allows for ...
• Beistline v. Footit
  HEALTH LAW Maddie Ayer In Beistline v. Footit, 485 P.3d 39 (Alaska 2021), the supreme court held that a pharmacist’s expert testimony was insufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact about the prevailing standard of care for an internist, affirming the lower court’s decision to grant summary judgment to the medical providers in a medical ...