Strokes
A stroke, also known as a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) occurs when the blood flow to the brain is blocked, thereby depriving the brain of oxygen and causing brain cells to die.
There are three main types of CVAs:
- An ischemic stroke caused by a blockage
- A hemorrhagic stroke caused by a breakage in a blood vessel
- A transient ischemic attack is a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain
Health care providers are trained to recognize the symptoms of a stroke such as dizziness, radiating head or other pain, numbness in the face or extremities, breathlessness, loss of vision and confusion.
When patients present to health care providers with symptoms suggestive of a stroke, the standard of care calls for these doctors to perform certain tests such as EEGs, EKGs, MRIs, MRAs, and CT scans to rule out a stroke as the potential cause of those symptoms. Doctors will check your reflexes, vision, speaking, and senses. They also will check for a particular sound (bruit) in the blood vessels of your neck, which indicates an abnormal blood flow. Finally, they will check your blood pressure to see if it is elevated, a common sign associated with a stroke as the body attempts to compensate for the low blood flow reaching the brain. Despite conducting these tests, approximately one in 10 strokes are misdiagnosed. Physicians may misdiagnose a developing stroke as a more benign process such as a headache, migraine, or other condition.
Given the present-day availability of numerous drugs and surgical procedures that can minimize the risk of permanent neurological injury caused by strokes, prompt diagnosis is essential. Failure to do so places a patient at greater risk for catastrophic injury or even death. It is generally understood that the sooner the patient is diagnosed and treated for a stroke, the better the patient’s prognosis will be.
Our medical malpractice team routinely appears in state and federal courts in the Baltimore and Washington D.C. regions, as well as jurisdictions inside and outside the State of Maryland, in the pursuit of just compensation for clients who have suffered undiagnosed or untreated strokes. Like all medical malpractice work, we take these cases on a contingency basis, meaning that our office funds the case expenses and only is paid if we recover money for the patient or their family.
If you or a loved one has been affected by an undiagnosed or untreated stroke, it is critical to have an informed, detail-oriented, and dedicated medical malpractice attorney who will tirelessly advocate for you and your case. Please contact Andrew G. Slutkin and Ethan S. Nochumowitz for a free consultation at 800-385-2243.