A stroke is what occurs when something affects the flow of blood within the human brain. The disruption of blood flow and normal brain functions can mean devastating medical consequences for the patient involved.
There is a saying in the medical community that after a stroke, time lost is brain lost. Essentially, people need emergency care as quickly as possible after a stroke to ensure the best recovery. The tragic truth is that many people don’t receive proper care after a stroke and suffer long-term consequences because of diagnostic failures.
Despite the known issues with diagnostics failures affecting stroke patients, medical providers still turn people away without the right support after a stroke.
Why is misdiagnosis so common with strokes?
You would think that Healthcare Providers would redouble their efforts to detect and diagnose strokes given how delayed treatment can be so damaging. However, a surprising number of physicians and medical support staff have a limited understanding of stroke symptoms.
They may only know the male symptoms, which are different than female symptoms. They might ignore self-reported symptoms described by a patient or family members. In a busy facility, they might leave someone reporting stroke symptoms to wait for care while they focus on people with far less serious conditions that can wait on treatment without putting their lives in danger.
Long delays for care and getting turned away from the hospital can have devastating consequences for someone who experienced the stroke and their family members. Recognizing that diagnostic mistakes can be a form of medical malpractice and help families get Justice when someone doesn’t get adequate treatment for a stroke.