Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) can cause unpredictable and devastating effects. If you sustained brain or head injuries from an accident in Nevada, you may be able to recover compensatory damages for:
- medical bills,
- anticipated future medical expenses,
- physical or occupational therapy,
- long- or short-term care,
- equipment,
- lost wages,
- lost earning capacity,
- lost or reduced functioning, and/or
- pain and suffering.
Depending on the case, you may be able to recover punitive damages as well.
Proving the cause of traumatic brain injuries often requires the help of both medical and legal experts. In 2021 alone, more than 69,000 people died from TBIs, according to the CDC: That is approximately 190 TBI-related deaths each day.1
In this article, our Nevada personal injury attorneys discuss what you need to know about traumatic brain injuries in Clark County and throughout Nevada, including recovering compensatory damages such as pain and suffering. Click on a topic to jump to that section:
- 1. Causes of TBIs
- 2. Effects of TBIs
- 3. Costs of TBIs
- 4. What money can I get?
- 5. Statute of Limitations
- Additional Reading
1. Causes of TBIs
Traumatic brain injuries can result from a wide range of physical impacts. Even a seemingly minor trip or hit can trigger TBIs.
Another person’s or company’s negligence is a common cause of many instances of TBIs. It has four elements you have to prove “by a preponderance of the evidence” should the case go to trial:
- The defendant had a duty of care towards you;
- The defendant breached that duty of care;
- That breach caused your injuries; and
- Your injuries resulted in damages.2
Examples of negligent behavior that could lead to TBIs are:
- Drunk drivers or motorcyclists causing a car accident with you.
- A Las Vegas casino having unsafe premises by failing to clean up a spill or put out a “wet floor” sign, resulting in you having a serious slip and fall accident.
- A pet owner letting their dangerous dog off leash, and it mauls you.
- Surgeons failing to follow proper protocols while operating on you.
If your TBI happens at work, you could bring a workers’ compensation claim against your employer. Or if your TBI resulted from someone intentionally assaulting you, you could sue them for battery (as well as file a police report against them).
2. Effects of TBIs
Even serious brain injuries may seem somewhat minor when they first occur. Also, trained doctors and nurses can have difficulty diagnosing the brain injury and determining the prognosis. This is especially true for brain injuries where the skull itself is not visibly damaged. (This frequently happens in cases of whiplash.)
Unfortunately, many traumatic brain injuries are made worse when you do not seek medical treatment right away. Swelling of the brain or bleeding may have disabling or even fatal results hours or days after the initial trauma occurs.
Short-Term Effects
Some of the warning signs of head injuries are acute—that is to say, they last for only a short period of time. The acute effects of a head injury can include:
- pain at the site of the injury
- a “dazed” feeling
- pupils that are unevenly dilated
- memory loss (either short- or long-term)
- loss of consciousness
- visual disturbances
- clear liquid leaking from the nose or ears
- seizures and convulsions
- inability to be roused from sleep
Children with TBIs may display disinterestedness, tiredness, and/or inconsolable crying fits.
Long-Term Effects
The long-term effects of head injuries can be extremely unpredictable. Some people may be affected forever by:
- cognitive changes
- abrupt mood swings
- changes in personality
- extreme confusion
- irritability
- aggressiveness
- headaches
- loss of sight, hearing, balance, coordination, motor skills, bodily functions, and/or sensation in the extremities
Still others may not feel dazed or confused or even in pain from their head injury. It is important to note that for some victims of head injuries—even people who will have significant long-term effects—there may be few or no noticeable immediate effects.
If you sustained a significant impact that caused your head to move suddenly (whether or not it hit a hard surface), it is best to get checked out by a physician.
Repeat Head Trauma
One of the most significant risk factors for significant brain injury is repeated head trauma.
Some Clark County residents have careers or play contact sports that involve a high risk of brain injuries. While a single concussion is unlikely to be serious, the same cannot be said for continued head injuries.
Nevadans who have been concussed repeatedly may develop lifelong brain injuries from “post-concussive syndrome.” These injuries may have unpredictable effects on mood and behavior. In some situations, brain injury carries devastating or even lethal psychological consequences.
3. Costs of TBIs
Economic costs associated with long-term debilitating traumatic brain injuries can reach into the millions. Some TBI cases require:
- repeated surgeries and
- lifetime medical treatment.
As a brain injury victim, you may also be unable to work or to continue working in the same profession, making your financial losses even greater. You can even lose abilities or senses that significantly impact your ability to enjoy life.
Nevada laws allow you to seek full compensation for your injuries. This includes:
- not only the costs that you have already incurred, like existing medical bills,
- but also your expected costs and losses in the future.
Our Las Vegas brain injury attorneys work with experienced medical witnesses who can predict all your future healthcare needs and costs. We also work with vocational experts who can calculate the future earnings you lost due to your TBI and the costs of vocational retraining you will need to learn new skills.
These expert testimonies help us secure you the largest possible settlement.
Pain and Suffering
If you are a TBI victim, you also may be entitled to recover for “non-economic” damages under Nevada law. “Non-economic damages are those not related to your actual out-of-pocket costs. They include recovery for:
- pain,
- suffering,
- inconvenience,
- loss of quality of life,
- physical impairment,
- disfigurement and
- other non-pecuniary damages.
There is no cap on non-economic damages unless your brain injury resulted from medical malpractice (professional negligence), as the following chart shows.5
| Year | Medical Negligence Damage Cap in Nevada |
| 2025 | $510,000 |
| 2026 | $590,000 |
| 2027 | $670,000 |
| 2028 | $750,000 |
Starting in 2029, the cap will increase by 2.1% annually.6
Do NOT Sign Settlement Paperwork Without Legal Advice
Insurance companies would love nothing more than to have you sign papers without talking to a licensed Nevada traumatic brain injury lawyer. Consulting with a personal injury law firm in Las Vegas, NV can mean the difference between a quick but inadequate payout and the full amount your case is worth.
Talking to a legal team does not necessarily mean you will be going to court on your personal injury claim. For most brain injury claims, your Las Vegas lawyer will still reach a settlement agreement with the insurance company. It will just be a settlement that keeps all your needs in mind—both in the short term and the long term.
5. Statute of Limitations
In general, you can bring a lawsuit no later than two years after discovering your injury (or when you should have discovered your injury). However, young children who sustained TBIs from medical malpractice have until they are 10 years old for their parents to sue on their behalf.7
Learn more about Nevada statutes of limitations in personal injury cases.
Additional Reading
For more in-depth information about traumatic brain injury cases, refer to the following scholarly articles:
- Lawsuit and Traumatic Brain Injury: The Relationship Between Long-Lasting Sequelae and Financial Compensation in Litigants. Results From the PariS-TBI Study – Frontiers in Neurology.
- Negative impact of litigation procedures on patient outcomes four years after severe traumatic brain injury: results from the PariS-traumatic brain injury study – Disability and Rehabilitation.
- Severe Brain Injury, Disability, and the Law: Achieving Justice for a Marginalized Population – Florida State University Law Review.
- Ethical Implications of Representing Traumatic Brain Injury Clients in the Personal Injury Litigation Process – Mid-Atlantic Journal on Law & Public Policy.
- The Glasgow Coma Scale: A disconnect between medical documentation and traumatic brain injury litigation in the United States – Medico-Legal Journal.
Legal resources:
- Get the Facts about TBI, CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
- Turner v. Mandalay Sports Entm’t, LLC, (2008) 124 Nev. 213, 180 P.3d 1172.
- NRS 385B.
- Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), Mayo Clinic.
- NRS 41A.011; Nevada Jury Instructions 10.05; BAJI 14.13. See also Helena Van Deynse et al, The incremental cost of traumatic brain injury during the first year after a road traffic accident, Brain Injury (July 12, 2019). See also Jeep Corp. v. Murray (1985) 101 Nev. 640, 708 P.2d 297. NRS 41A.035. See also Staccato v. Valley Hosp. (2007) 123 Nev. 526.
- Tam v. Eighth Judicial District Court, (2015) 358 P.3d 234. AB 404 (2023). In 2023, the pain and suffering damages cap in Nevada medical malpractice cases was $350,000.
- NRS 11.190. NRS 41A.097(2). AB 404 (2023).