According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 39 out of every 100,000 people in the U.S. died of a stroke in 2023. The CDC also reports that someone has a stroke every 40 seconds in the United States, and someone dies of a stroke every three minutes and 14 seconds.
When a stroke occurs, prompt treatment can help minimize the damage and reduce the risk of death. Unfortunately, patients can be denied life-saving treatment if a stroke is misdiagnosed. And, this happens far more often than you may think, as research published by Diagnosis estimates as many as 165,000 missed cerebrovascular events each year in the United States.
If you or someone you love is misdiagnosed when you are having a stroke, you may be able to pursue a claim for compensation for the resulting losses. A Chicago stroke misdiagnosis lawyer at Gill Ports Hoste LLC can help you to understand if you have a medical malpractice claim and can work with you to prove the extent of your damage.
Give us a call today to schedule your free consultation with a stroke misdiagnosis lawyer to learn more about how we can fight for you.
How does a stroke misdiagnosis happen?
Stroke misdiagnosis can occur for many different reasons, especially if a patient is not showing some of the hallmark signs of a stroke, like facial drooping. Some of the most common reasons strokes are misdiagnosed include the following:
- Your symptoms aren’t typical. While doctors usually look for things like facial drooping and slurred speech, some strokes present differently — especially if the stroke occurs in the brain’s posterior circulation. You may have symptoms like nausea, dizziness, and headaches, which don’t lead to an immediate stroke diagnosis.
- Your doctor confuses your stroke with another condition. Your doctor may diagnose you with other medical issues instead of a stroke, such as an anxiety attack, an ear infection, or vertigo.
- Your doctor may fail to order the proper testing. If your doctor doesn’t take a patient history, listen to your symptoms, or perform a thorough neurological exam, this can lead to a missed or delayed diagnosis.
- Medical bias. Doctors have a picture of what a stroke victim looks like, and those who don’t fit that picture — including young patients and women — are more likely to be misdiagnosed.
- Systemic failures: If an emergency room is too crowded, the doctor doesn’t give you the proper time and attention, staff members don’t communicate, or young and inexperienced doctors don’t recognize your symptoms, this can lead to a misdiagnosis of stroke
In any of these situations, you could end up with treatment being delayed or could receive the wrong treatment.
What are the consequences of a misdiagnosed stroke?
Prompt treatment is absolutely essential to minimize the consequences of a stroke. Clot-busting drugs and clot removal devices can prevent prolonged loss of oxygen to the brain — but only if care is provided promptly. When treatment is delayed, you could experience:
- More severe brain damage due to a longer period of oxygen deprivation.
- Permanent disabilities, including paralysis, muscle weakness, and mobility loss.
- Speech and cognitive impairments. The longer your brain is without oxygen, the worse your long-term cognitive challenges are likely to be.
- Secondary stroke risk. The longer your first stroke goes untreated, the greater the chances of another stroke.
- Death. If your brain is deprived of oxygen for too long due to delayed treatment, the results can be fatal.
Typically, there is a 3.5 to 4-hour window to administer a tissue plasminogen activator to try to dissolve clots quickly and reduce damage. If this is missed because of diagnostic errors, the consequences are irreversible.
Is a misdiagnosed stroke medical malpractice?
A misdiagnosed stroke is often, but not always, medical malpractice. The key questions that determine whether a provider can be liable for medical malpractice in Chicago include the following:
- Did the doctor have a duty to you? If you visit a doctor in the ER, an urgent care, or at a clinic or office, then the doctor generally has a duty to you to provide a professional level of care.
- Did the doctor fail in their professional obligations? A doctor is negligent if the care they provided fell below the professional standard of care. If a reasonable doctor with similar training and experience would have correctly diagnosed the stroke and your doctor didn’t, then your doctor breached the duty and should be responsible for the consequences.
- Did you experience harm as a direct result of your doctor’s failures? Doctors sometimes try to argue that the stroke would have had the same consequences for your health, no matter what care they provided. You will need to show that you were specifically damaged by their error, not by the underlying medical condition.
- Did you suffer damages that you can be compensated for? You’ll also need to show damages happened because of your provider’s failure. This could include more expensive medical bills, pain and suffering, emotional distress, or other losses.
How can a stroke misdiagnosis lawyer help you?
A stroke misdiagnosis lawyer can help you if you or your loved one experienced misdiagnosis of a stroke and suffered harm because of it. Gill Ports Hoste LLC can:
- Evaluate your case to determine if you have a claim for malpractice
- Help you to prove your case by presenting evidence like medical records and eyewitness testimony
- Represent you in taking legal action against the provider and/or the provider’s employer
- Negotiate a settlement or present your case in court
- Help you prove the extent of your damages by keeping a pain journal, gathering medical records, and documenting your decreased quality of life.
Contact a Stroke Misdiagnosis Lawyer at Gill Ports Hoste LLC for help
Gill Ports Hoste LLC is here and ready to fight for you when a stroke is not diagnosed correctly, and you or someone you love suffers harm. We don’t charge legal fees unless we win, and your consultation and case evaluation are always free.
To find out more about how we can help, give us a call or contact us online today to speak with a Chicago stroke misdiagnosis lawyer ready to advocate for you.