What Happened
Our firm successfully resolved a catastrophic medical malpractice case after physicians failed to recognize the warning signs of a carotid artery dissection and impending stroke in a young mother shortly after childbirth.
Just days after delivering her baby, our client returned to the hospital complaining of the “worst headache of her life,” severe neck pain, and dangerously elevated blood pressure—classic red flags for a neurological emergency. Despite these symptoms and her diagnosis of severe preeclampsia, physicians failed to order brain or vascular imaging before discharging her home.
Two days later, she suffered a massive stroke caused by an untreated carotid artery dissection. The stroke left her with permanent brain damage, speech impairment, memory loss, cognitive deficits, weakness, anxiety, and the inability to return to work.
The evidence showed that timely imaging and treatment with anticoagulation therapy would more likely than not have prevented the stroke and resulting brain injury.
Practice Areas Involved
This result arose from the kind of care reviewed on these pages. If something similar happened in your family, they explain what the records are read for.