Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in Wisconsin
Stroke signs missed?
My 83-year-old grandfather, with no prior stroke history, had one in his home. About a year prior he had open-heart surgery (relevant?), and all went well. He fully recovered to his life of reading, sailing, & time with his friends. About a week before the stroke he became weak, disorientated, had troubling speaking, & fell. He saw his doctor about 3 days after his fall, which was a few days before the stroke. His MD thought his blood pressure RX was too high, & lowered it. No other tests/exams were done.
Was my grandfather was exhibiting symptoms of stroke that his MD should�ve recognized? Worsening things, during his stroke my grandma, who has memory problems & early dementia, didn�t know what to do. Unfortunately treatment was delayed 3-5 hours, thus ER wouldn�t use any clot busting meds.
He has massive brain damage, is paralyzed, can�t speak or eat, & would be better off if he had died. The delay in treatment, due to my grandma�s confusion, seems to be a contributing factor to his present state & potential for recovery. However, an elderly man who sees his MD complaining of confusion, disorientation, trouble speaking, and an unexplained fall should have gotten more than just, �lower your BP pills.� Any legal thoughts?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Stroke signs missed?
Medical malpractice cases are generally difficult to win. The patient must prove his case to a reasonable certainty. Whether your grandfather might have a case that he could win would depend, in my opinion, upon what the doctor's records say about your grandfather's complaints and symptoms. If the record of that visit contains information that would allow another doctor of the same specialty to testify that your grandfather's doctor should have suspected and tested for a stroke, there might be a case, assuming that proper treatment would then have prevented the subsequent stroke completely or from being as serious as it was.
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