Stroke Injury Attorney in San Francisco

Failure to Diagnose Stroke & Medical Malpractice

Stroke is life-threatening condition that can result in severe deficits and disabilities. Although the medical community has clearly defined warning signs indicative of stroke and established protocol for health care providers who treat stroke victims, many people suffer debilitating injuries or death due to the negligence of providers who fail to properly diagnose, treat, or manage stroke.

If you or someone you love has suffered harm due to a provider’s mismanagement of stroke. failure to diagnose stroke, delayed diagnosis, or other act of negligence, you may have grounds to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Stroke lawsuits are highly complex claims, and they demand the attention of experienced attorneys who have the resources to help victims fight back against providers and hospitals that are often unwilling to accept fault and liability.

Our San Francisco stroke injury attorneys at Bostwick & Peterson, LLP are here to evaluate your potential claim and discuss how we may be able to help you pursue justice.

Decades of Record-Setting Medical Malpractice Results

Bostwick & Peterson, LLP is a nationally recognized civil trial practice renowned for our work in medical malpractice litigation. Our recovery of more than $1 billion in compensation for our clients includes millions of dollars for malpractice victims and numerous record-setting results in multiple states.

Some of our record results include:

• $21M – Largest California non-punitive verdict for a single individual (2000)
• $17M – Largest CA medical malpractice settlement to date. (2019)
• $14M – Largest CA malpractice settlement at the time. (2018)
• $11.4M – Largest CA birth injury settlement at the time. (2010)
• $11M – Largest injury settlement in Hawaii history at the time (2000).
• $8.0M - Largest malpractice settlement in Oklahoma history at the time (1985)
• $7.6M – Largest malpractice verdict in the U.S. at the time (1978)

In claims as complex as medical malpractice, stroke victims and their families can be confident about choosing our top-tier attorneys at Bostwick & Peterson. Call or contact us for a FREE case review.

Stroke Injuries Caused by Medical Malpractice

A stroke happens when blood flow to the brain is stopped or disrupted. This can occur as an:

• Ischemic stroke, which is caused by blood clots that develop elsewhere in the body and travel to blood vessels that supply the brain with oxygenated blood (embolic stroke), or blood clots that develop in the arteries that supply blood to the brain (thrombotic stroke).
• Hemorrhagic stroke, which occurs when a blood vessel inside the brain ruptures (intracerebral hemorrhage) or when bleeding occurs in the subarachnoid space between the brain and surrounding membranes (subarachnoid hemorrhage).
• Transient ischemic attack (TIA), often called a “mini-stroke,” can cause temporary symptoms and are an early warning sign and risk factor for stroke.

Although the type and severity of strokes can vary, all strokes have the potential to result in significant injuries or death. Common disabilities and deficits resulting from stoke include:

• Aphasia (speaking difficulties)
• Dysphagia (difficulties swallowing or feeding)
• Ataxia (loss of control of movement)
• Paralysis, including hemiplegia and hemiparesis
• Cognitive deficits, including problems with memory, neglect, anosognosia, and apraxia
• Vision loss, including visual field cut and legal blindness
• Sensory loss, including the ability to feel touch, pain, or temperature
• Emotional or psychological problems, including depression and anxiety

Do I Have a Stroke Malpractice Case?

Because stroke injuries can have such devastating consequences, correct and timely treatment is essential. Determining whether a provider acted within accepted medical standards when treating you or your loved one will require a personalized case review.

Strokes can present under many different circumstances, in various ways, and to many different people. While the standard of care or stroke protocol may depend on these and other facts, all providers owe their patients a duty of care and can be held accountable for preventable injuries when they fail to meet the standard.

The key question to ask when assessing the merits of a medical malpractice lawsuit over stroke injuries has to do with this duty of care: Did the provider in question fail to act in a manner that a reasonably skilled, trained, and experienced provider in the same field would have acted under the same or similar circumstances? If they did deviate from the standard of care, injured patients and families may have grounds to pursue a stroke malpractice case.

Examples of negligence that can give rise to stroke malpractice claims include:

• Failure to recognize stroke symptoms or perform adequate patient examinations
• Failure to obtain patient history or perform a differential diagnosis
• Failure to order necessary testing, including CT scans
• Failure to diagnose a stroke or other cardiovascular conditions, including atrial fibrillation
• Misdiagnosis of stroke symptoms (i.e. vertigo, headache, etc.)
• Surgical errors or anesthesia errors resulting in stroke
• Emergency Room errors
• Failure to timely treat stroke, including failure to timely administer tPA
• Failure to diagnose neonatal / fetal stroke during labor, resulting in birth injuries

Failures to timely diagnose and treat stroke are a common basis for stroke malpractice lawsuits. Because there are many variables and because every case is unique, assessing the quality of care you received and whether it meets the legal definition of medical negligence requires extensive investigation and review.

At Bostwick & Peterson, we leverage our decades of experience to review potential cases of stroke malpractice, and work closely with medical experts to assess when providers failed to meet accepted protocol and standards .

Examples of our stroke case results:

• $8.75 Million for a 30-year-old woman who suffered a brain aneurysm and stroke after ER physicians failed to order a CT scan.
• $8 Million for a woman who suffered a brain hemorrhage caused by a cerebral aneurysm.
• $6 Million for a client who suffered a brain injury due to failed diagnosis of an evolving stroke.
• $3.5 Million for client with paralysis on one side of her body after ER failed to diagnose stroke.
• $3.2 Million for a 40-year-old carpenter who suffered a stroke and hemiplegia after providers failed to diagnose hypercoagulability.
• $1.75 Million for a 65-year-old man who suffered a brain stem stroke and paralysis following improper treatment of cerebellar hemangioblastoma.

How Much is a Stroke Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Worth?

The value of a stoke malpractice lawsuit settlement or verdict depends on the severity of the stroke, the parts of the brain damaged, and the resulting deficits victims suffer.

Because compensation is awarded for future damages, meaning the future expenses and losses victims are likely to incur as a result of their long-term or permanent stroke-related disabilities, the age of a victim, their ability to work and care for themselves, and their life expectancy also factor into the value of an ultimate financial recovery.

In general, victims of medical malpractice are entitled to a financial recovery of the physical, financial, and emotional losses they incurred as a result of their injuries. This can include:

• Pain and suffering
• Emotional suffering / loss of quality of life
• Lost income and future wages
• Hospital and medical expenses
• Rehabilitation, therapy, and future medical needs

Medical malpractice claims involving strokes can be complex, but they are not impossible to litigate. Our San Francisco attorneys at Bostwick & Peterson, LLP have helped numerous clients successfully file and prevail in malpractice claims against providers who failed to meet their duty of care when treating patients who suffered debilitating strokes.

To discuss your case and how we may be able to help you, contact us for a FREE consultation.