Chicago Failure to Diagnose Stroke Attorney
A stroke is a medical emergency, as the Mayo Clinic emphasizes, and it requires immediate medical treatment. The sooner a patient is accurately diagnosed and treated, the better the patient’s chance for avoiding serious complications that may include brain damage and death. Accordingly, when a healthcare provider fails to accurately diagnose a stroke, the hours or days prior to an accurate diagnosis can result in severe harm to the patient. If you or someone you love was improperly diagnosed with a stroke, it may be possible to file a medical malpractice claim. An experienced Chicago failure to diagnose stroke attorney at our firm can discuss your options with you today.
Types of Stroke in Chicago
There are three different types of stroke that can be misdiagnosed, or that a healthcare provider can fail to diagnose. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains the following types of stroke, and underscores that the type of stroke and ultimately treatment for it will be critical in determining the patient’s ability to recover:
- Ischemic stroke, which accounts for about 87 percent of all strokes, occurs “when blood flow through the artery that supplies oxygen-rich blood to the brain becomes blocked.” It may result from blood clots that lead to blockages.
- Hemorrhagic stroke, which occurs “when an artery in the brain leaks blood or ruptures,” which in turn “puts too much pressure on brain cells” and causes brain damage. These types of strokes are often caused by high blood pressure or aneurysms. A hemorrhagic stroke can take two forms, including an intracerebral hemorrhage or a subarachnoid hemorrhage.
- Transient ischemic attack, or TIA, which may be described as a “mini stroke.” This type of stroke happens when blood to the brain is blocked for a short period of time. While TIAs do not typically cause lasting damage, it is critical to know that these are also medical emergencies because they are often warning signs that a stroke will occur in the future, and they can also be signs of a blood clot.
If a healthcare provider fails to identify the warning signs of a stroke or fails to accurately diagnose one of the above types of strokes, that healthcare provider may be liable for damages.
Failure to Diagnose Stroke Lawsuit Statute of Limitations in Chicago
If you plan to file a medical malpractice lawsuit against one or more healthcare providers for failure to diagnose stroke, you need to know that there is a two-year statute of limitations on most medical malpractice cases under Illinois law. That two-year window will open either on the date of the healthcare provider’s error, or in failure to diagnose cases, on the date the patient learned or should have learned of the error.
Contact Our Failure to Diagnose Stroke Attorneys in Chicago
If you need assistance with a failure to diagnose stroke claim, one of our Chicago medical malpractice lawyers can help. Contact Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman, LLC for more information.
