Practice Areas / Medical Malpractice
Nevada Medical Malpractice Attorneys
When medical professionals fail to meet the standard of care, the results can be devastating. Our Henderson medical malpractice lawyers fight to hold negligent providers accountable.
(702) 360-5000, Free ConsultationMedical Malpractice Lawyer, Henderson & Las Vegas, NV
Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor, nurse, hospital, or other healthcare provider fails to meet the accepted standard of care, and that failure causes injury or death to a patient. When a mistake proves fatal, the family may have a claim for the loss of a loved one, and when a birth injury or oxygen loss leaves lasting cognitive harm, it can overlap with the way we handle a traumatic brain injury. These are some of the hardest cases in personal injury law. Proving negligence takes detailed medical knowledge and qualified physician witnesses willing to testify about where the care fell short.
Erik Severino has spent more than 20 years taking on insurers and big corporations in Nevada, and he handles claims built on surgical errors, misdiagnosis, birth injuries, medication mistakes, and hospital negligence. These cases turn on medical testimony, so we work with qualified physicians who review your records and explain, in front of a jury if it comes to that, where the care went wrong. Negligent care often leaves a patient with harm that reshapes daily life, which is why this work sits alongside the life-changing injury claims we handle every day.
Nevada med-mal claims carry their own procedural rules that ordinary injury cases do not. Most notably, a complaint generally has to be filed with a supporting declaration from a medical provider attesting that the care fell below the standard.Miss that step and the case can be dismissed, so getting a physician to review the records early matters.
Types Of Medical Malpractice We Handle
Proving Medical Malpractice In Nevada
To successfully pursue a medical malpractice claim in Nevada, four elements must be established:
Duty Of Care
A doctor-patient relationship existed, which created a legal duty to treat you competently.
Breach Of The Standard Of Care
The provider deviated from what a reasonably competent provider would have done under the same circumstances.
Causation
That breach directly caused your injury or made your condition worse, not the underlying illness alone.
Damages
You suffered real harm, physical, financial, or emotional, because of the negligence.
Nevada Medical Malpractice Filing Deadline
For Nevada medical-malpractice injuries on or after October 1, 2023, you generally have the earlier of 3 years from the injury or 2 years from when you discovered it under NRS 41A.097. Older injuries follow the prior 3-year or 1-year-from-discovery rule, and the deadline can be paused if the provider concealed the malpractice. Because the rule depends on your injury date, do not wait to have your records reviewed.
How Nevada's Damages Cap Affects Your Case
Nevada caps non-economic damages in a medical-malpractice case, the money for pain, suffering, and loss of quality of life. The cap is not a flat figure: it steps up every January. For 2026 the cap is $590,000 per incident, climbing toward $750,000 by 2028. Your hard economic losses, the actual medical bills, future care, and lost wages, are not capped at all. That distinction is why how a case gets documented matters so much. A claim that proves real, ongoing economic harm is not boxed in by the cap.
Building that proof is its own job. We pull the complete chart, line up the treating providers, and bring in a physician to review whether the care met the standard a reasonably competent provider would have used in the same situation. In a Clark County case that lawsuit is filed in the Eighth Judicial District Court, the general trial court for the county.
A lot of strong cases settle before trial once the hospital's insurer sees the file is built. But we prepare every claim as if it is going to a jury, because that is what gets a serious offer instead of a stall. If you are not sure a bad medical outcome rises to malpractice, our broader Las Vegas injury practice can help you sort out where your situation fits. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique.
Medical Malpractice Questions, Answered Plainly
How Long Do I Have To File A Medical Malpractice Case In Nevada?
It depends on when the injury happened. For injuries on or after October 1, 2023, you generally have the earlier of three years from the injury or two years from when you discovered it, under NRS 41A.097. Injuries before that date follow the prior three-year or one-year-from-discovery rule. The deadline can be paused if the provider concealed what happened. These rules are stricter than the regular two-year injury deadline, so do not assume you have plenty of time. Call us and we will look at your dates.
Is There A Limit On What I Can Recover For Malpractice In Nevada?
There is a cap, but only on non-economic damages, the part that pays for pain, suffering, and loss of quality of life. That cap steps up every January. For 2026 it is $590,000 per incident under NRS 41A.035, rising toward $750,000 by 2028. Your economic losses, the medical bills, future treatment, and lost income, are not capped at all. That is why we document the full financial picture of a case, not just the obvious bills.
A Surgeon Left Something Inside Me. Does That Prove The Case?
It helps, but it is not automatic. When a foreign object is left in a patient's body, Nevada law treats it as an evidentiary presumption of negligence under NRS 41A.100, which shifts a lot of weight in your favor. One thing it does not do is extend your filing deadline on its own. So even in a clear case like that, the clock still matters and you should have it reviewed quickly.
Where Would A Las Vegas Or Henderson Malpractice Lawsuit Be Filed?
A Clark County case is filed in the Eighth Judicial District Court in downtown Las Vegas, the general trial court for the county. Whether the care happened at UMC, Sunrise, one of the St. Rose Dominican campuses in Henderson, or a private surgical center, that is where the suit goes if it does not settle first. Many cases resolve before trial, but we build each one as if a jury will hear it. Tell us what happened and we will explain the path your case would take.
What Does A Medical Malpractice Lawyer Cost?
Nothing up front. We work on contingency, so the fee is a percentage of what we recover, and if there is no recovery, you do not owe a fee. We go over case costs and expenses with you in plain language before anything starts, because malpractice cases involve real costs like an independent physician review. The first conversation is free and confidential. Call (702) 360-5000 or use the form on this page.
Medical Malpractice Consultation
We review medical malpractice cases at no cost. Tell us what happened.