Injuries to Children

CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA CHILD INJURY LITIGATION ATTORNEYS

Every day in the United States children are injured in a variety of accidents that cause severe injuries. Many of these injuries could have been avoided if a responsible adult was properly supervising these children, or if other safety measures had been taken.

The leading cause of death in children over one year of age is trauma. Each year, more than 6,000 children die from accidental injury. Over 14,000,000 children are hurt each year from carelessness.

Our team of child injury attorneys have represented children injured by an unsafe swimming pool or dangerous playground equipment. Defective products, including faulty car seats and strollers, cribs, flammable children’s clothing, and unsafe toys are also common factors in causing injuries to children. The misdiagnosis of an illness or negligent treatment of an illness are examples of medical malpractice, which may cause injuries to children.

Our team of attorneys understands that the emotional, physical, and financial losses that result from injuries to your child can be overwhelming and unexpected.

At Walkup, we understand that children are our greatest asset. They carry on our hopes, dreams and aspirations. The death or serious injury of a child is an event that impacts not only the present and future life of the child, but also the lives of those who care for him or her. If your child has been injured in an accident because of the negligence or fault of another, contact us today.

Children’s injury claims often involve:

EXAMPLES OF OUR SUCCESS

Child Brain Damage - $5,000,000 Settlement
Walkup Melodia Kelly catastrophic injury specialists negotiated a cash and annuity settlement with a present cash value in excess of five million dollars on behalf of an infant born with quadriparetic paralysis after doctors and nursing staff failed to monitor the mother and deliver the baby quickly when fetal heart monitors indicated severe distress. 8 hours after being admitted to the hospital, the mother a fever. The doctor on call administered antibiotics and said he would check back in an hour. Nearly three hours later, the fetal heart rate monitors still showed a dangerous drop in the fetus’s heart rate   to 85 and 90 (normal is 140), and remained there for about 10 minutes, prompting a frightened nurse to Call for a doctor. The infant was born an hour later by emergent vacuum extraction, with no heart rate. An MRI showed severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. The child is totally dependant on others for all of her care. needs for her entire life. She is not expected to develop beyond the level of a one-month-old infant.  Walkup Melodia lawyers utilized life care specialist’s pediatric rehabilitation to map out a lifetime plan of medical and attendant care.  

Failure To Perform Cesarean Section – $100,000 Arbitration Award for Infant Brain Injury
In a case involving cerebral palsy, our birth injury attorneys obtained a binding and final arbitration award against Kaiser, the nations largest managed care provider, arising from an obstetrical disaster. The arbitration award has a present cash value of $4,100,000 and was secured on behalf of a 3-year-old boy afflicted with multiple neurological injuries as a result of negligent delivery. Our attorneys and physician experts proved that the infant endured a period of oxygen deprivation when his mother’s uterus ruptured. Obstetrical nurses left the mother unattended prior to the rupture of her uterus, and for that reason failed to appreciate ominous signs of the baby’s distress as reported on a fetal heart monitor.  

Delayed Admittance to Obstetrical Unit – Brain Injury and Cerebral Palsy
We negotiated a pre-trial mediated settlement on behalf of a child who suffered profound brain damage when her mother’s uterus ruptured at the site of a previous myomectomy (surgery to remove a fibroid in the uterine wall). Two weeks prior to delivery, the child’s mother was hospitalized in pre-term labor. After being medicated and released, she was advised to observe strict bed rest and communicate with her OBGYN’s office.  At 10:00 p.m. the evening before delivery, the parents called to report painful contractions. Without determining the onset, frequency, characteristics or location of the pain suffered by the mother, a telephone nurse told the mother to take an additional dose of her anti-contraction medication. Eight hours later, the mother awoke in severe pain. She was taken to a local hospital where the child was delivered by emergency C-section at 32 weeks gestation. The child was diagnosed with periventricular leukomalacia, and later developed infantile spasms and cerebral palsy.   

Automobile Accident – $4,500,000 Brain Damage Settlement

Our team represented a 14-year-old boy riding as a rear seat passenger in a car that was involved in a head-on collision in Bakersfield , California. As the car encountered a rural intersection, the driver found the roadway flooded. No warning signs had been erected. Although it had been raining earlier, it was not raining at the time of the collision. The flooded roadway caused the car to hydroplane and rotate, crossing into oncoming traffic, and colliding head-on with a car traveling in the opposite direction. Our young client sustained a major head injury, including coma. He also sustained fractures of his left leg and right arm. His medical bills exceeded $500,000. Because of his brain damage, experts forecasted that he would be unable to be self-sufficient in the work place. His future wage loss was estimated at over $800,000. Our attorneys achieved a settlement of $4,500,000 against defendants including the local county water district, the county road department, and the opposing driver.

Birth Trauma – $4,100,000 Arbitration Award

Our team of attorneys obtained a binding arbitration award against the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan on behalf of an infant afflicted with cerebral palsy following negligent delivery at the Kaiser Hospital at Redwood City , California. Our attorneys proved that the child endured a severe hypoxic injury when his mother’s uterus ruptured during labor because the attending midwife negligently managed the mother’s delivery and failed to reduce or stop the administration of Pitocin, a labor-enhancing drug. Our team also demonstrated that the nurses left the mother unattended before the uterine rupture, which resulted in their failure to timely note the ominous signs of fetal distress. Our child injury specialists obtained an arbitration award in the maximum amount of general damages available under California law, $670,000 in future lost earnings, $330,000 in past medical bills, and reimbursement for in-home nursing and attendant care at the rate of $15,000 per month, increasing at 3% per year, for the life of the child. The arbitrators also awarded the mother $250,000 for emotional distress, and $84,000 for household modification expenses.

High School Sports Injury – $4,500,000 Settlement

Our attorneys obtained a combination cash and annuity settlement on behalf of a Central Valley 13-year-old who suffered permanent paralysis as a result of unsupervised horseplay before football practice for his sophomore football team. In the course of roughhousing, one team member jumped on our injured client, severing his spine. The School District claimed that the fault for the incident rested with the child and his schoolmates. The settlement included a cash payment of $2,750,000, with the balance directed to multiple annuities providing for increased levels of support and assistance throughout the child’s life as his needs increased. Our attorneys demonstrated that the conduct of school officials in failing to properly supervise the children, during a school-sponsored activity, violated the California Education Code.

Defective Hot Tub – $2,500,000 Wrongful Death Settlement

Our attorneys negotiated a settlement in the amount of $2,500,000 on behalf of the parents of a 4-year-old girl who was burned over 80% of her body while bathing in the family hot tub. Our attorneys demonstrated that the manufacturer of the hot tub had installed a defective thermostat, permitting the water to become unreasonably hot. The child survived for 61 days following the incident. The settlement was paid by the manufacturer of the hot tub. The settlement was paid in satisfaction of the parents’ wrongful death claim, as well as the mother’s emotional distress claim, as she was present when her daughter was scalded and sustained fatal injuries.

Public Transportation Negligence – $2,000,000 Settlement

Walkup attorneys negotiated a combination cash and annuity settlement having a present value of $2,000,000 on behalf of a 16-year-old girl who was struck by a San Francisco Municipal Railway. In the collision, the child sustained amputation of her left lower leg below the knee. At the time she was struck, she was crossing the street with a green light. The settlement was paid on behalf of the municipality. Although the defense attempted to prove that the child should have heard the approaching vehicle, our attorneys demonstrated that the plaintiff had done nothing wrong, and that the injury was entirely the fault of the Municipal Railway driver.

Amusement Park Injury – $425,000 Shoulder Injury Settlement

Our team of attorneys negotiated a settlement in the amount of $425,000 on behalf of a high school student who was injured in the collapse of a water slide in Concord , California. The child was attending her senior class picnic at the facility when the slide broke. Our attorneys demonstrated that the manager of the water park was negligent in understaffing the park, and permitting teenagers to overload and “clog” the slide. The on-duty attendant was under-trained and inexperienced. Our client, who was an accomplished amateur tennis player, sustained a permanent injury to her shoulder when the slide collapsed. Her medical expenses totaled $50,000.

School Abuse – $250,000 Settlement

Walkup attorneys negotiated a cash and annuity settlement on behalf of a 9-year-old boy having a total cash value of $250,000. The child was physically and verbally abused by his teacher at school over a 6-month period. The mistreatment culminated in the teacher’s throwing the child across the room into a wall. Shortly thereafter, the teacher was terminated. The defendants included the daycare facility and the teacher. Our attorneys demonstrated that the facility had received numerous complaints from other parents regarding this very same teacher mistreating other children during the same period of time, and before our minor client was abused. Our child sustained significant emotional distress as a result of the teacher’s actions.

Contact Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger for a FREE CONSULTATION with an experienced children’s injury litigation lawyer.