Justice Secured for Delay in Stroke Intervention
Case Type: Stroke / Medical Malpractice
Outcome: Confidential Settlement
Challenge: Proving causation in a highly
contested stroke case
Case Summary
A client who suffered an ischemic stroke in West Texas was denied timely tPA treatment, resulting in permanent brain damage. VWMW filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the responsible hospital and doctors and successfully obtained a significant confidential settlement.
Case Background
- Our client was a 45-year-old high school mechanics teacher with a history of right-sided cerebral palsy. At baseline, our client was highly functional with the ability to ambulate without assistance and speak clearly.
- He began experiencing stroke-like symptoms such as right-sided weakness, aphasia, dizziness after showering one morning.
- He was quickly taken to a local hospital where it was recognized that he was likely having an ischemic stroke.
- Miscommunication and failure to perform an appropriate workup resulted in an incorrect assessment that he experienced a “wake-up” stroke (stroke started during the night) and was therefore not an appropriate candidate to receive clot-busting medication tPA
- The hospital failed to have an appropriate Acute Stroke Protocol to ensure he was timely seen by a neurologist and the clot busting medication, tPA, was ordered and administered
- Though the stroke was recognized within the 4.5-hour window for our client to receive tPA, the emergency department physicians and staff delay and failure to administer life-saving medication lead to permanent brain damage
VWMW’s Approach and Strategy
The case required significant discovery and expert testimony to establish the miscommunication errors that led to this catastrophic outcome. Our investigation during discovery revealed that there were significant gaps in the hospital acute stroke protocol in
effect at the time that led to the communication errors between providers. The damage that was caused by the failure to act timely and appropriately could have easily been prevented. In addition to securing a recovery for our client to help with future medical care, we were also able to ensure that the hospital policy that led to the outcome was updated to hopefully prevent a similar situation for happening to any other patient in the future.
Case Outcome
This case underscores the importance of meticulous case preparation and in-depth understanding of the current science and medicine related to stroke intervention. Comprehensive investigations and a deep understanding of medical standards were essential to proving negligence against multiple healthcare providers and securing a favorable outcome for our deserving client. The strategies employed by VWMW ensured that our client received the justice and compensation that he deserved.