Military Stroke Misdiagnosis Attorneys

How Common Is Stroke Misdiagnosis?

Failure to diagnose stroke is a very common form of misdiagnosis. Thousands of people across the country will suffer serious health consequences after suffering a stroke and being misdiagnosed when they go to the hospital or emergency room for help. Medical studies show that as many as 12.7% of strokes are misdiagnosed. This means as many as 165,000 people every year are mistakenly told they do not have a stroke. According to the study, if you were younger, a woman, Black, Asian, or Hispanic, your odds of begin misdiagnosed were higher than the general population.

Stroke misdiagnoses are common across all types of medical clinics and centers, too. From emergency rooms to military hospitals and VA healthcare centers, strokes can and often are misdiagnosed by medical professionals.

What are Strokes Confused With?

Strokes can cause a variety of symptoms depending on the severity of the stroke. Many stroke patients experience dizziness and headaches. A common acronym that medical providers use is “FAST” – [F]ace, [A]rm, [S]peech, and [T]ime. That is, if you have fascial drooping (particularly asymmetrically issues), arm (or leg) weakness, speech difficulties, you must act fast to get medical help.

If a medical provider does not take the proper steps to test for the signs of a stroke, it might be confused with:

Sometimes, even when a provider diagnoses you with a stroke, they do not take appropriate follow-up action. For example, our law firm represented an individual who went to the hospital and was diagnosed with a transient ischemic attack. These are known as “mini-strokes.” They often do not have long term consequences but do put patients at risk of subsequent, larger strokes. So, providers should appropriately triage and provide follow up care to ensure their patients do not suffer a second, much larger stroke that can cause permanent functional problems in a patient’s daily life.

Various diagnostic tests can be used by medical providers to look for the telltale symptoms of a stroke so an accurate diagnosis can be made. If those tests are not used or the results are misinterpreted, it might indicate that medical malpractice has occurred, and that is why the patient’s stroke was not treated on time.

Consequences of Stroke Misdiagnosis

Strokes are often treatable if medical attention is provided rapidly at the first sign of symptoms. However, the longer a stroke goes untreated, the more likely it can cause severe and permanent health complications. If a stroke is misdiagnosed, it will likely not be treated on time, and the stroke patient will be put at a high risk of long-term symptoms.

Permanent symptoms caused by strokes include: