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Failure to Diagnose Leads to Permanent Stroke Deficits in 49-Year-Old Husband and Father

The Medical Negligence Case Facts

Shortly after going to bed one evening, Scott G. woke up with a horrible headache and pain behind his right eye. He also had trouble breathing and was severely nauseated. As he staggered to the bathroom to vomit, Scott’s wife called 9-1-1 because Scott thought he was either having a heart attack or a stroke.

Scott was taken to the hospital, where he was evaluated by an emergency medicine doctor. Scott was under the doctor’s care in the emergency department for approximately six hours. During that time, the doctor ran a few tests but never the proper tests to evaluate Scott for a possible stroke. The doctor ordered various treatments for Scott’s symptoms, such as anti-nausea medicine and medicine to reduce Scott’s sky-high blood pressure, but he never got to the bottom of why Scott was having these symptoms.

Eventually, Scott was admitted to the hospital under the care of his primary care doctor, without ever having had any real workup for a possible stroke.

The next day, Scott could hardly speak or swallow, his hands and arms were numb, and his eyelid was drooping on one side. It was then clear that Scott was suffering from a stroke. The on-call Stroke Team was called, but by then it was way too late to do anything.

It turns out that Scott G. had a vertebral artery stroke, the most common type of stroke among people in Scott’s age range. (He was 49 years old at the time of the stroke.) This type of stroke can have very bad outcomes, but if it is diagnosed and treated quickly with clot-busting medications (within 4.5 hours of onset), outcomes are much better. Unfortunately, Scott spent all of that precious time in the emergency department with a physician who never gave enough thought (or action) to the possibility Scott was having a stroke. Once the diagnosis was made, all that remained to do was to make Scott comfortable and wait to see how bad the outcome would be.

The outcome was not good. Scott has permanent stroke deficits, including both motor and sensory deficits. He has neuropathic pain, vision issues, balance issues, and central sleep apnea. He also has significant, permanent issues relating to his neurogenic bladder. His life – and that of his family – has been turned upside down. Although he has returned to work, Scott’s injuries likely will affect his ability to continue working at full capacity in the future.

Building our Medical Error Case

As in any medical negligence case, it is critical to assemble a strong team of medical experts and to provide those experts with all the evidence they need to evaluate the case properly. Here, The Eisen Law Firm consulted with top-notch experts in emergency medicine, interventional radiology, critical care medicine, and stroke neurology in order to build a strong case against the emergency medicine physician. The issues were: (a) whether the doctor’s failure to diagnose and treat Scott G.’s stroke was a breach of the standard of care; (b) whether the delay in diagnosis was a proximate cause of Scott’s injuries; and (c) the full extent of the injuries suffered by Scott, his wife, and their children.

The Eisen Law Firm filed suit and took the depositions (sworn testimony) of the key players in the case, including the defendant emergency medicine physician. The doctor claimed that he considered a vertebral artery stroke as one possibility for Scott’s symptoms. But, as The Eisen Law Firm pointed out, he never ordered the key imaging study that should be ordered when a vertebral artery stroke is considered. He also never called the Stroke Team, despite the fact that internal hospital documents required Stroke Team notification whenever the emergency medicine doctor suspects stroke.

The defense fought hard on behalf of the doctor, taking the position that Scott’s presentation was complex and not a typical presentation for a stroke. The defense also contended that in retrospect Scott was having symptoms of stroke for a least a few days before he came to the hospital, which means that the window for treatment closed well before Scott even called 9-1-1. Finally, the defense contended that Scott had a very good outcome under the circumstances and that giving him clot-busting medications actually might have caused more harm than good.

The case was contentious and appeared headed for trial. The Eisen Law Firm began its meticulous trial preparations, which included an in-depth analysis of all of Scott’s medical records (thousands of pages) and more than 30 peer-reviewed medical journal articles. It also included exhaustive research into the defendant doctor’s professional life. That research turned up useful information that The Eisen Law Firm planned to use in its trial cross examination.

Our Medical Malpractice Case: Final Pretrial and Settlement

With the trial of the case only a few weeks away, the Court held a final pretrial conference to discuss the Court’s trial procedures and preferences. At that time, the parties discussed and reached a settlement agreement to resolve the matter without trial. The settlement figure is confidential.