Stroke

A stroke is a serious, life-threatening condition, occurring when blood spills into the brain, cutting off nutrients and oxygen so that brain tissue dies. Strokes are most often caused by a tearing blood vessel or by a clot clogging an artery or vein in the brain. When a stroke occurs, timely treatment is necessary. In many cases, patients who get proper help within minutes or hours of an initial stroke are able to make a full or partial recovery. When patients are misdiagnosed, however, they often do not get life-saving treatment in time and this can mean that they suffer permanent brain injury or even die due to the delay. Each year, patients launch medical malpractice claims in Miami and across Florida because they have been misdiagnosed.

If you feel you may have a case, it is important to speak with a personal injury attorney in Miami or your community. The effects of a serious stroke can be very costly. You may be unable to work due to your injuries and you may require extensive rehabilitation, home care, and other treatment to regain mobility, speech, and any other functions lost. If your stroke was caused by medical negligence or if medical staff recklessness worsened your stroke, you may have legal recourse. To find out whether you qualify for compensation, you can always contact the Flaxman Law Group for a free, no obligation consultation.

The symptoms of a stroke vary from person to person but they can include:

• Confusion
• Difficulty speaking
• Blurry vision or other vision problems
• Balance problems or problems with walking or mobility
• Severe, sudden headache
• Sudden weakness or numbness on one side of the body
• Dizziness

Studies have shown that doctors sometimes incorrectly diagnose strokes as migraines or other, non-serious conditions, and this can mean that patients do not receive life-saving procedures in time. Younger patients, especially, may be misdiagnosed, even if they have several risk factors and all the classic symptoms. In some cases, medical professionals are negligent in running needed tests because they assume that a person is too young for a stroke – even though numerous studies have shown that strokes can happen to patients at different ages.

Misdiagnosis in this situation can occur for many reasons:

• Understaffing in emergency rooms
• Medical professionals not listening or not correctly noting and analyzing patient symptoms
• Not running needed tests to rule out a stroke
• Lack of patient monitoring
• Releasing a patient too early from the emergency department, before proper testing can be done
• Overlooking symptoms and signs of a stroke

Deciding to pursue a medical malpractice claim in Miami or anywhere in South Florida can be daunting. However, if you have a strong case it can be important to pursue compensation. Stroke victims in Miami and across South Florida face high costs related to their injuries. Pursuing compensation helps defray these costs and ensures you have the resources to pay for treatment, home care, and other resources you need.

If you decide to pursue a claim, you will generally need to prove that medical negligence occurred and led directly to your injury. Through a personal injury attorney in Miami or your community, you will also generally need to show that the stroke could have been averted or your injuries would not have been as severe if you were diagnosed correctly.

If you are not sure whether you have a claim, contact the Flaxman Law Group to arrange for a free case evaluation.