I suffered a stroke in August and went to the hospital within 15 minutes from the onset of the symptoms. The hospital gave me a CAT scan, an echocardiogram of the carotid arteries.
They were not able to pinpoint the blockage and my symptoms appeared minor. They decided to keep me overnight for observation, gave me three baby aspirin and put me to bed. There were no follow-up checks to see how I was doing.
I awoke in the middle of the night to discover that I had developed total paralysis on my left side. Although I rang repeatedly for the nurse, no one responded. Five months later, I am still working to regain full movement of my left extremities.
I am told that a clot-busting drug could have been administered which could have stopped and possibly reversed the stroke symptoms, thereby preventing the disability which I am now dealing with. Is this considered medical negligence?
Answer:
This is a difficult situation, because there is not obvious element of medical negligence. Unfortunately, the only way to determine if you have a case is to have an expert medical witness investigate the incident and determine if the hospital staff performed their duties as expected. A failure to check up on you likely did not contribute to the injury, unfortunately, so it may be an uphill battle.
You should talk to one or more medical malpractice lawyers and see if they have easy access to a neutral third party medical doctor to hear your story and advise you on the likelihood of negligent medical care. The attorney should then be able to give you a real idea of your chances in court.
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Posted by Staff Writer on 28 Jan 2010