Las Vegas, Nevada Birth Injury Lawyer

A birth injury is the last thing a parent expects to happen during labor and delivery. If your newborn experienced trauma during birth or shortly after, he or she may suffer serious health consequences. At The Janda Law Firm, our medical malpractice attorneys help families seek justice and compensation for Nevada birth injuries. We believe in protecting patients from the carelessness of health care professionals. If your child has a birth injury, please contact us for a free consultation. You may be eligible for compensation.

Why Clients Choose Our Las Vegas, NV Birth Injury Attorneys

• Our founding partner is a neurologist. As the only neurologist attorney in Nevada, he offers an advantage to his clients. His extensive medical background can prove invaluable during birth injury claims.
• Our medical knowledge enables us to save our clients time and resources by being able to research birth injury claims quickly. We prepare all cases as if they will go to trial for the most comprehensive legal strategies possible.
• Our birth injury lawyers in Nevada accept cases on a contingency fee basis. This payment arrangement means you will never pay for your lawyer out of pocket. You only pay if your lawyer wins the case, and only out of the compensation won.

What Can a Birth Injury Lawyer Do?

Birth injury claims involve complicated medical malpractice and hospital negligence laws. The hospital or individual practitioner your family believes caused the birth injury will likely have a powerful legal defense team to contest your claim. Rather than taking on difficult settlement negotiations and complex laws alone, hire a personal injury attorney to do so for you. A birth injury lawyer can strengthen your claim to financial damages and protect you from insurance bad faith practices. You can focus on your child and family while a lawyer handles your lawsuit in Nevada.

How Does a Birth Injury Differ from a Birth Defect?

Birth injuries are caused by medical malpractice. Negligence can play a role in the development of birth defects, but not always. The cause of birth defects is often genetic or occurs during the development of a fetus. Conditions like Down syndrome, spina bifida, or congenital heart defects are often unavoidable.

Certain birth defects may be caused by medications that a mother takes during pregnancy. Doctors may fail to warn their pregnant patients about certain side effects or fail to read their charts before prescribing a dangerous medication. If your child is born with a birth defect or you suffer any complications, you could file a lawsuit against the doctor who prescribed the drug.

Common Types of Birth Injuries

You might have a birth injury claim if your child has any type of injury or trauma from someone else’s mistake made during your pregnancy, labor or delivery. Always consult with a birth injury lawyer before assuming you do not have a claim. At The Janda Law Firm, we can help parents bring lawsuits for all types of negligence- or malpractice-related birth injuries in Nevada.

• Bone fractures
• Cuts or lacerations
• Nerve damage
• Facial paralysis
• Undiagnosed conditions
• Brain injuries
• Cerebral palsy
• Brachial plexus injuries
• Erb’s palsy
• Klumpke’s palsy
• Untreated jaundice
• Wrongful death

Many birth injuries are temporary. However, some will last the child’s lifetime. Cerebral palsy, for example, is an incurable motor function disorder that stems from brain damage early in development. Although the law does not expect a doctor to prevent every birth injury, it does expect the exercise of a reasonable standard of care during labor and delivery. Breaching this standard and causing a preventable birth injury is medical malpractice.

What Causes Most Birth Injuries?

Any medical professional can make a mistake that can affect newborn children and their families for the rest of their lives. While some factors leading to these injuries are inherent to the complexity of childbirth, many are preventable with proper care and diligence.

Some of the most common causes of birth injuries include:

• Failure to monitor the mother and baby closely for any signs of distress
• Not ordering a C-section when necessary for the safety of the mother or child
• Incorrect use of labor-assistance tools such as forceps or vacuum devices
• Breakdowns in communication among the medical team, leading to oversight or error
• Mistakes in administering or managing medications
• Deprivation of oxygen, resulting in brain damage and other health issues
• Allowing inexperienced or unsupervised staff to oversee critical aspects of delivery
• Neglecting to respond to or recognize fetal distress signals
• Failure to diagnose a high-risk pregnancy or overlook significant risk factors

Long-Term Consequences of Birth Injuries

The aftermath of a birth injury extends beyond the immediate physical harm, often casting a long shadow over a child’s development and quality of life. Families often spend thousands, if not millions, of dollars over a lifetime to address these complications and support their injured child.

These consequences include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Cognitive impairments affecting learning and problem-solving abilities
• Loss of motor functions or reduced mobility, hindering independence
• Brain damage with varied manifestations and severity
• Seizure disorders, requiring ongoing medical management
• Developmental delays that may affect educational and social progression
• The need for special education services and long-term personal care
• Speech disorders, impacting communication and social interaction
• Vision or hearing loss, altering the child’s perception of the world

Is Your Child the Victim of Medical Malpractice?

You might have grounds to bring a birth injury claim in Nevada if you or your birth injury attorney can collect evidence of a doctor, nurse, surgeon or health care center’s negligence in connection with your child’s injuries or death. Common examples of negligence that could cause birth injuries are misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, misreading test results, poor patient care, lack of fetal heart rate monitoring, failure to order an emergency C-section, negligent birthing techniques and mishandling of a newborn. You have three years from the date medical malpractice occurred or one year from the date of injury discovery to file your claim in Nevada.

How Much Is a Birth Injury Lawsuit Worth in Las Vegas?

By filing a birth injury lawsuit, your family could recover compensation for your child’s economic and non-economic damages. Your child’s non-economic damages are the pain and suffering he or she suffered as a result of the doctor’s negligence. Examples of pain and suffering include:

• Permanent disability
• Emotional distress
• Loss of quality of life
• Chronic pain
• Depression and anxiety

Economic damages are the financial costs that resulted from the birth injury, such as the following:

• Your child’s past and future medical expenses
• Mobility or assistive equipment
• Rehabilitation and therapy
• The cost of caregivers or care facilities

Settlements in birth injury claims depend on the individual damages that the child experienced. As a result, no two lawsuits are alike. In cases where a child suffers a severe, permanent birth injury, for example, the family would recover a higher settlement than the family of a child who does not need ongoing medical care.

During the lawsuit, your attorney from Janda Law Firm will identify every type of compensation your family may be entitled to receive. Then, he will calculate your potential award and advocate aggressively for the highest possible settlement.

Statute of Limitations for Birth Injuries

In Nevada, the statute of limitations for birth injuries is three years, but certain circumstances may lengthen or shorten this filing window. To protect your right to compensation, it is essential to consult with a lawyer as soon as you suspect your child was injured due to medical negligence. At the Janda Law Firm, we can help you determine your appropriate filing deadline and initiate your lawsuit as soon as possible.

Nevada Revised Statute § 41A.097: Limitation of actions; tolling of limitation.

2. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, an action for injury or death against a provider of health care may not be commenced more than 3 years after the date of injury or 1 year after the plaintiff discovers or through the use of reasonable diligence should have discovered the injury, whichever occurs first, for:

      (a) Injury to or the wrongful death of a person occurring on or after October 1, 2002, based upon alleged professional negligence of the provider of health care;

      (b) Injury to or the wrongful death of a person occurring on or after October 1, 2002, from professional services rendered without consent; or

      (c) Injury to or the wrongful death of a person occurring on or after October 1, 2002, from error or omission in practice by the provider of health care.

4. For the purposes of this section, the parent, guardian or legal custodian of any minor child is responsible for exercising reasonable judgment in determining whether to prosecute any cause of action limited by subsection 1 or 2. If the parent, guardian or custodian fails to commence an action on behalf of that child within the prescribed period of limitations, the child may not bring an action based on the same alleged injury against any provider of health care upon the removal of the child’s disability, except that in the case of:

      (a) Brain damage or birth defect, the period of limitation is extended until the child attains 10 years of age.

      (b) Sterility, the period of limitation is extended until 2 years after the child discovers the injury.

The Legal Process for Birth Injury Claims in Nevada

Learning that your child suffered a birth injury can feel overwhelming. While no amount of compensation can undo what happened, taking legal action can help secure the resources your family needs for your child’s care. Understanding the legal process ahead can provide you with peace of mind during this already difficult time.

Here is what you can expect when pursuing a birth injury claim in Nevada:

• A Las Vegas birth injury attorney meets with you to hear your story, answer your questions, and help you understand your legal rights as a parent.
• Your lawyer gets to work immediately requesting and reviewing all medical records to identify exactly what went wrong during labor and delivery.
• Medical experts examine your case to determine if proper care standards were followed and pinpoint where healthcare providers may have made mistakes, helping satisfy Nevada’s affidavit of merit requirement.
• Your attorney begins negotiations with the insurance companies, presenting the evidence of negligence and fighting for fair compensation.
• If a fair settlement cannot be reached, your lawyer files the lawsuit and begins the discovery process, gathering additional evidence through depositions and document requests.
• Negotiations continue while both sides prepare for court. If these negotiations are unsuccessful, your attorney prepares your case for trial and will present compelling evidence in front of a judge or jury.

Nevada’s Affidavit of Merit Requirement

Before moving forward with your birth injury case, Nevada law requires you to submit a document called an affidavit of merit. This affidavit helps strengthen your case by having a qualified medical expert confirm that there are valid grounds for your claim. The expert reviews your situation and provides a sworn statement detailing how medical negligence contributed to your child’s injury. Your Las Vegas birth injury lawyer can help you connect with a medical professional who meets the requirements set by Nevada law, helping you satisfy the affidavit of merit requirement.

NRS 41A.071. Dismissal of action filed without affidavit of medical expert. 

If an action for professional negligence is filed in the district court, the district court shall dismiss the action, without prejudice, if the action is filed without an affidavit that:

1. Supports the allegations contained in the action;
2. Is submitted by a medical expert who practices or has practiced in an area that is substantially similar to the type of practice engaged in at the time of the alleged professional negligence;
3. Identifies by name, or describes by conduct, each provider of health care who is alleged to be negligent; and
4. Sets forth factually a specific act or acts of alleged negligence separately as to each defendant in simple, concise and direct terms.

Types of Evidence Required in Birth Injury Cases in Las Vegas, Nevada

To build a strong case for your family, your attorney will need to gather substantial evidence that clearly demonstrates how medical negligence caused your child’s injury. Several pieces of evidence can be used to prove a birth injury lawsuit. For example, your complete pregnancy, labor, and delivery records can provide a detailed timeline of events and help medical experts identify critical mistakes.

Your Las Vegas birth injury attorney can also analyze fetal monitor strips, which reveal how your baby responded during labor and can show if warning signs were missed. Communications between doctors and nurses frequently reveal important details about decisions made during your delivery, while diagnostic tests and scans document your child’s injuries and help prove the extent of harm caused by negligence. Together, these pieces of evidence create a comprehensive picture that supports your claim and helps secure the compensation your family deserves.

Contact Our Nevada Birth Injury Lawyers

Birth injury Attorney Paul Janda cares about infants, children and families in Nevada. He and his associates stand up for those who cannot speak for themselves. If you believe someone else’s negligence caused your child’s birth injuries, call (702) 758-8888 or send us a message online for a free legal consultation. We may be able to help you hold the at-fault doctor, hospital or birthing center accountable.