Get a Miami Stroke Attorney to Win Your Case

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 795,000 people in the U.S. suffer a stroke every year. About 140,000 people die from stroke annually. That means around one in 20 deaths in America are due to stroke yearly. Persons with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or heart disease can lower their stroke risk by managing their medical conditions and adopting healthy habits. What people can’t control, however, is when medical negligence is responsible for a stroke occurring or an unreasonable delay in providing life-changing treatment such as tPA. When failure to diagnose stroke or failure to treat stroke result in serious or fatal consequences from a stroke, the Miami stroke lawyers at Freidin Brown, P.A. help stroke victims and their families hold doctors and hospitals accountable for their disastrous mistakes and recover much-needed compensation to deal with the costs, challenges and suffering brought on by a stroke caused by medical errors.

Pulmonary Embolism and Stroke

A pulmonary embolism (PE) occurs when a blood clot or deep vein thrombosis (DVT) travels through the bloodstream from the leg to the pulmonary artery, where it prevents oxygenated blood from getting to the heart and brain. This condition can cause an ischemic stroke (lack of blood flow and oxygen to the brain). Post-operative patients are at risk for this type of stroke, and hospitals should take proper steps to prevent a PE from happening by prescribing blood thinners where appropriate, shifting patients in bed, and getting them out of bed and moving around soon after surgery.

Endocarditis and Stroke

Infective endocarditis is a bacterial infection in the heart valves. Acting similarly to a blood clot, bacteria and cell fragments can clump together at the infection site. These clumps can break loose and travel to the brain, causing an ischemic stroke. Although endocarditis patients may not benefit from clot buster drugs like TPA, they can still be treated effectively through procedures such as removal of the clot.

Endocarditis patients are 90 times more likely to have a stroke in the first month after diagnosis, and they remain at increased risk for stroke as long as five months after diagnosis. Preventing a stroke from endocarditis requires prompt, accurate diagnosis of the condition and treatment from an appropriate team of specialists. Misdiagnosis of endocarditis, or failure to treat promptly and appropriately, are medical mistakes which can rightly be blamed if a stroke occurs under these conditions.

Pediatric Stroke

The improper use of forceps or a vacuum extractor during delivery can cause an ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke and seizures, leading to permanent brain damage or conditions such as cerebral palsy. The adverse effects of a pediatric stroke can be greatly avoided or diminished if the stroke is diagnosed and the child is given proper, immediate medical attention. Doctors and hospital staff should be aware of the symptoms of pediatric stoke and the proper methods for diagnosis, as well as emergency medical treatment. Failure to promptly and accurately diagnose and treat pediatric stroke often leads to tragic, lifelong consequences.

Strokes can be caused by medical negligence during pregnancy

Preeclampsia is a hypertensive disorder that can occur during pregnancy. Apart from the pregnancy complications that preeclampsia presents, women who had preeclampsia during pregnancy have an increased risk of high blood pressure in the future as well, along with an increased risk of stroke. According to the Preeclampsia Foundation, women who had preeclampsia are at double the risk of having a stroke later in life. Women who developed preeclampsia prior to 32 weeks into their pregnancy are five times more likely to have a stroke than women who delivered following normal pregnancies. Doctors who failed to diagnosis preeclampsia or manage and treat the condition can be liable not only for injuries to mother and baby during pregnancy, labor and delivery but also for a later onset of stroke.

Get a Free Consultation with Experienced Miami Medical Malpractice Lawyers after a Stroke

A stroke may or may not be the consequence of medical malpractice, but you can’t expect the doctors or hospital who treated you to be forthcoming when their failures were the cause of your stroke. Instead, call Freidin Brown, P.A. in Florida for a no-cost, confidential consultation after a stroke. We are experienced in identifying when stroke was caused or worsened by medical malpractice, and we have taken on cases against hospitals throughout the state of Florida. It costs nothing to bring your concerns to us, and we’ll only charge a fee if we recover compensation on your behalf. Contact today our skilled Miami medical malpractice attorneys!