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Life on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation has long carried deep concerns about health care, concerns that many residents say have had deadly results. Over the past several years, families and patients have filed at least eight malpractice lawsuits tied to care at Indian Health Service facilities serving the reservation in north central Montana. Five of those cases involve deaths. At the center of every case is the same doctor and the same staffing company, raising hard questions about how care is delivered and how accountability is handled.
One of the most painful stories is that of Avis King. In September 2016, King went several times to the Fort Belknap IHS clinic, complaining of chest pain, arm pain, and trouble breathing. According to court records and family members, she was sent home again and again without relief or a referral for outside care. Her son, Rhodes Last Capture, recalled that his mother was told her problems were caused by smoking. Days later, King collapsed at home and died. Last Capture later sued the federal government, the doctor involved, and the staffing company that placed him at the clinic. The case ended in a settlement, but the amount remains private.
Last Capture believes the settlement changed nothing. He says the same pattern has continued, with other families facing similar losses. Over six years, lawsuits have accused the Fort Belknap IHS of negligent care that failed to properly diagnose or treat patients. Each time, the doctor named in the suits was later dismissed from the case before a settlement was reached. According to the attorney representing all eight plaintiffs, this step helps protect the doctor’s professional record, allowing him to keep working.
The Indian Health Service has long struggled with limited funding and staffing shortages, especially in remote areas. Vacancy rates at some IHS facilities are high, forcing reliance on traveling doctors hired through staffing agencies. These agencies fill gaps quickly but can also shield doctors from long-term consequences when care goes wrong. In these cases, settlements were often paid by insurance without findings placed on the doctor’s record.
The lawsuits describe a troubling range of outcomes. One patient suffered severe complications after a leg problem was not diagnosed in time. Another man was allegedly overdosed after being given medication and sent home. A tribal elder died of prostate cancer after repeated visits without proper follow-up. An 18-year-old recent high school graduate died after weeks of breathing problems that were never fully addressed. Other patients survived only after emergency care at hospitals hours away.
Two lawsuits remain active, including one involving a man who later died after being sent home with headaches and advice to manage diabetes. Another case involves a man with a head injury who was discharged multiple times before doctors outside the reservation found a brain bleed. He died months later.
Despite the number of lawsuits, the doctor involved has no public discipline on record and continues to practice through staffing contracts. The staffing company and its parent firm declined to answer questions about employment decisions. The Indian Health Service also declined to address specific concerns, offering only a general statement about its mission to improve Native health.
For many on Fort Belknap, the legal process feels hollow. Settlements may bring some financial help, but families say they do not bring justice or safety. Several deaths never led to lawsuits at all, either because families did not want money tied to their loss or feared the risk of losing in court. Even when families win, the awards are often modest, and the system remains unchanged.
Last Capture says his mother spent years trying to report poor treatment, calling supervisors and offices outside the reservation. He believes those efforts were ignored. To him, the problem is not one doctor alone, but a system that allows repeated failures without real change. He believes Native patients are too often blamed for their own illnesses instead of being fully examined and treated.
The federal government has a legal duty to provide health care to Native Americans. For many families at Fort Belknap, that promise feels broken. They say their loved ones deserved careful attention, respect, and timely care. Instead, they see a system that keeps moving forward while the same tragedies repeat, leaving families with grief and unanswered questions.
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Eight lawsuits, five deaths: How a reservation doctor accused of malpractice kept working
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