Timely diagnosis and treatment of stroke is key to survival and to your best chance of maintaining function and quality of life. The most effective treatment for ischemic stroke must be administered within three hours of onset. The sooner treatment starts, the better. Every minute that passes increases the likelihood of long-term complications. The consequences of failure to diagnose stroke, or delayed diagnosis, can be catastrophic.
Consequences of Failure to Diagnose Stroke
Failure to diagnose stroke includes sending a patient home without diagnosing the stroke at all and delayed diagnosis that occurs while the patient is still in the emergency room or hospital. Harm that can result from failure to diagnose stroke includes:
- Another, more severe stroke, typically after undiagnosed “mini stroke”
- Brain injury
- Memory problems
- Vascular dementia
- Aphasia – difficulty speaking and/or understanding words
- Decreased attention
- Difficulty problem solving
- Difficulty reading and writing
- Inability to inhibit inappropriate behavior
- Other behavioral changes
- Depression
- Seizures
- Loss of motor skills
- Paralysis, often on one side of the body
- Difficulty swallowing
- Pain
- Death
Medical Negligence Leading to Failure to Diagnose Stroke
Failure to diagnose stroke is often the result of medical negligence such as:
- Failure to consider stroke in younger patients
- Failure to consider stroke in patients that seem healthy
- Errors in recording intake interview
- Failing to take a medical history
- Failure to consider patient’s medical history
- Failing to perform a physical examination
- Failure to order necessary tests
- Laboratory error
- Misinterpreting tests
If you or someone you love has been harmed by failure to diagnose stroke, an experienced medical malpractice attorney can help. Please contact us to be connected to an experienced medical malpractice lawyer in your state.
