A stroke is a medical emergency that requires immediate diagnosis and treatment. If a doctor failed to recognize stroke symptoms or delayed appropriate care, you could have a medical malpractice claim for the resulting harm. A Las Cruces lawyer can help you determine whether your stroke injuries could have been prevented and seek compensation for the harm you’ve suffered.
Coates & Johnson has 20+ years of experience representing individuals in missed and delayed diagnosis cases. We can help you get answers and uncover why you didn’t receive the proper care. Contact us today in Las Cruces, NM, to schedule a free consultation.
Why Injured Patients in New Mexico Hire Coates & Johnson?
Coates & Johnson has extensive experience handling complex failure-to-diagnose stroke cases in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Clients choose our firm because:
- Our practice is centered on medical negligence cases.
- Our firm includes attorneys who have dedicated their careers to holding hospitals and medical providers responsible for negligence (including a lawyer who has an M.D.)
- Our attorneys have evaluated and handled thousands of medical malpractice claims.
- We have earned the respect of the legal community and defense attorneys for hospitals and insurers.
- We offer contingency fee arrangements in all medical malpractice cases.
If you suspect that a healthcare provider failed to properly diagnose your stroke, our firm can help you. Contact us today to speak with a Las Cruces medical malpractice attorney about your case.
How An Attorney Can Help With a Delayed or Missed Diagnosis Case
Failure-to-diagnose stroke claims can be challenging to prove. Not every stroke presents with the same symptoms, and healthcare providers may argue that the condition was difficult to detect.
You must show that a provider failed to meet accepted medical standards in examining you for a stroke and that the delay in diagnosis caused additional harm. An experienced failure to diagnose stroke attorney in Las Cruces can help by:
- Reviewing emergency room records, imaging studies, and diagnostic tests
- Consulting medical experts to determine whether appropriate testing or treatment should have been provided
- Evaluating how the delay in diagnosis affected your recovery and long-term health
- Identifying all healthcare providers who may have contributed to the missed diagnosis
- Calculating the financial and personal losses resulting from the delay in treatment
Medical malpractice claims involving strokes often require detailed medical analysis and expert testimony. An attorney can help coordinate this evidence and connect your stroke to negligent care. Contact our law firm today to learn more about how an attorney can help you.
Common Types of Injuries Related to Stroke Misdiagnosis
A stroke occurs when blood flow to part of the brain is interrupted, either by a clot blocking an artery or by a blood vessel rupturing. Brain cells begin dying within minutes of the onset.
When providers fail to recognize stroke symptoms, patients may suffer harm that is irreversible. The window for administering clot-busting medication is narrow, and every minute of delay narrows treatment opportunities.
The most common injuries resulting from a missed or delayed stroke diagnosis include:
- Permanent paralysis or weakness on one side of the body
- Loss of speech or the ability to understand language (aphasia)
- Cognitive impairment (memory loss and difficulty with reasoning)
- Persistent vision loss
- Difficulty swallowing
- Chronic pain
- Sensory disturbances
- Emotional and psychological changes
- Death
The severity of these conditions depends heavily on what part of the brain was impacted by the stroke and how long the patient went without treatment. A provider who fails to recognize stroke symptoms removes the patient’s best chance at a meaningful recovery.
Understanding Failures to Diagnose a Stroke
Not every delayed diagnosis automatically constitutes malpractice. A failure to diagnose a stroke occurs when a healthcare provider does not recognize the symptoms of a stroke in time to provide appropriate treatment. Stroke treatment is highly time-sensitive; even short delays can significantly worsen a patient’s outcome.
Common symptoms that may indicate a stroke include:
- Sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm, or leg
- Difficulty speaking or understanding speech
- Sudden confusion or loss of coordination
- Severe headaches with no known cause
- Vision problems in one or both eyes
- Dizziness or difficulty walking
When these symptoms are ignored, patients may miss the limited treatment window for interventions (e.g., clot-dissolving medications or other emergency therapies).
Proving Your Failure to Diagnose Stroke Case
Stroke misdiagnosis claims require demonstrating that a provider deviated from the standard of care and that the deviation caused the patient’s injury. Four elements must be established for a successful claim.
- Duty. A provider who evaluates a patient presenting with stroke symptoms has assumed a duty to diagnose and treat appropriately.
- Breach. This requires showing that the provider failed to act as a reasonably competent physician would. In stroke cases, this often means failing to administer the FAST assessment, failing to order a CT scan or MRI, misattributing symptoms to a less serious condition, or discharging the patient without appropriate follow-up.
- Causation. This element is often contested. The defense will argue that the patient’s brain damage was unavoidable. Plaintiffs must counter with expert testimony establishing that the patient’s outcome would have been materially different had the stroke been identified and treated within the appropriate window.
- Damages. Losses in stroke misdiagnosis cases can be extensive. Patients who survive with permanent neurological deficits often require long-term rehabilitation, in-home care, and significant modifications to their living environment. Lost earning capacity for working-age patients can represent a substantial portion of a damage award.
You must prove all four elements to win your claim. Failure to prove just one will result in your case being dismissed.
Who is Responsible for a Failure to Diagnose a Stroke?
Several healthcare providers may be involved in diagnosing and treating a patient who is experiencing stroke symptoms. When a stroke diagnosis is delayed or missed, more than one provider or medical facility may share responsibility depending on the circumstances of the case.
Potentially liable parties may include:
- Emergency room physicians who failed to recognize stroke symptoms
- Primary care physicians who dismissed warning signs during earlier visits
- Nurses or medical staff who failed to properly document or communicate symptoms
- Hospitals or healthcare systems responsible for patient care and supervision
- Radiologists who misinterpreted CT scans, MRIs, or other imaging studies
- Specialists who failed to properly evaluate a patient after referral
Identifying every provider involved in the patient’s care is an important part of investigating a medical malpractice claim. A thorough review of medical records and treatment decisions can help determine which providers failed to meet the accepted standard of care.
What Compensation Can I Recover Through a Medical Negligence Claim?
When medical providers fail to properly diagnose and treat a stroke, patients may suffer permanent neurological damage, loss of mobility, cognitive impairment, or other serious complications.
If you suffered these or other harms, you may be entitled to seek compensation for your losses. Economic damages provide money for your financial expenses (including future costs); non-economic damages compensate for personal, non-monetary losses related to the stroke.
Your medical malpractice award may include money for:
- Medical expenses related to stroke treatment and rehabilitation
- Additional treatment required because of the delayed diagnosis
- Future medical care and long-term support needs
- Lost wages and reduced earning ability
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Permanent disability or reduced quality of life
If a delayed diagnosis resulted in death, you may be entitled to wrongful death damages for funeral expenses, loss of companionship, and loss of support.
These damages are designed to make you whole and hopefully ensure that what happened to you or a loved one won’t happen again at the medical facility.
How Long Do I Have to File a Stroke Misdiagnosis Claim in New Mexico?
For medical malpractice claims in New Mexico, the statute of limitations is generally three years. That period typically begins on the date the negligent act or omission occurred. However, because stroke patients sometimes suffer cognitive impairment that affects their ability to recognize a legal claim, the time period may be paused until they discover they suffered harm due to medical negligence.
Claims involving government facilities may carry additional procedural requirements, including shorter notice deadlines that must be met before a lawsuit can be filed. Surviving family members pursuing wrongful death claims following a fatal stroke misdiagnosis are also subject to specific filing rules.
Consulting a medical malpractice attorney promptly after identifying a possible stroke misdiagnosis is strongly advisable. If you miss the deadlines in your case, you will be barred from recovering compensation in court.
Contact a Las Cruces Failure to Diagnose a Stroke Lawyer
A missed stroke diagnosis can change a person’s life and abilities. When healthcare providers fail to recognize stroke symptoms and provide timely treatment, the consequences can be devastating.
If you believe negligent medical care delayed the diagnosis of a stroke, you deserve legal representation to help you sort out what happened. At Coates & Johnson, we represent patients throughout New Mexico who have suffered serious injuries due to medical negligence.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation with a Las Cruces failure to diagnose a stroke lawyer.