Strokes

A stroke, also known as a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) occurs when the blood flow to the brain is blocked, thereby depriving the brain of oxygen–filled red blood cells causing brain cells to die. There are two main types of CVAs: ischemic stroke caused by a blockage and a hemorrhagic stroke is caused by a breakage in a blood vessel. In both cases, part of the brain is deprived of blood (and therefore oxygen) for a period of time, causing the brain’s cells to die. Health care providers are trained to recognize the symptoms of a stroke such as dizziness, radiating head or other pain, numbness, breathlessness and anxiety. When patients present to health care providers with symptoms suggestive of a stroke, the standard of care calls for these doctors to perform certain tests such as EEGs, EKGs, MRIs, MRAs and CT scans to rule out a stroke as the potential cause of those symptoms. Sadly, in many instances, physicians misdiagnose a developing stroke as a more benign process such as a headache, migraine or other condition. Doctors will check your reflexes, vision, speaking and senses. They will also check for a particular sound (bruit) in your blood vessels of your neck, which indicates an abnormal blood flow. Finally, they will check your blood pressure to see if it is elevated, a common sign associated with a stroke as the body attempts to compensate for the low blood flow reaching the brain. In today’s world, given the availability of numerous drugs and surgical procedures that can minimize the risk of permanent neurological injury, prompt diagnosis is essential for stroke victims. Failure to do so, places a patient at great risk for catastrophic injury or even death. It is generally understood that the quicker one can get a diagnosis and treatment for the stroke, the better the prognosis will be.

Our medical malpractice team routinely appears in state and federal courts in the Baltimore and Washington D.C. regions, as well as jurisdictions inside and outside the State of Maryland, in the pursuit of just compensation for clients who have suffered undiagnosed or untreated strokes. Like all of medical malpractice work, we take these cases on a contingency basis, meaning that our office lays out the funds for the case in advance and our clients are only responsible for repaying those expenses upon the successful resolution of a case, whether it be via settlement, trial or on appeal. We understand that when people are victims of medical malpractice, the last thing they can usually afford to do is pay for attorney up front because there are so many other important financial considerations that are pressing. We therefore assume the risk of success and bet on ourselves that we will be successful on your behalf.