Syracuse Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog
According to Lori Smith, a physician’s assistant at Lourdes Hospital, a stroke can “affect anyone at any age.” Knowing that strokes happen every day to Southern Tier residents, as well as throughout Upstate and Central New York, Lourdes Hospital (Binghamton, New York) held its first ever Stroke Awareness Day on Saturday. May is Stroke Awareness Month.
While a stroke is the third largest killer of Americans and the number one cause of disability, many strokes are preventable with appropriate and timely medical care, provided a patient suffering from a stroke presents to an emergency room or qualified medical professional. Common signs of a stroke that a doctor or hospital should identify upon presentation include an “earth-shattering” headache (a headache unlike any other), blurred vision, slurred speech, and weakness or paralysis of the arms, legs or face.
The failure to diagnose the signs or symptoms of a stroke is medical malpractice. And there are stroke risk factors that, when joined with symptoms, should prevent misdiagnosis, including: blood pressure, family history, diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol and lack of physical activity. Another way to make a stroke diagnosis is by way of a carotid duplex ultrasound. According to the National Stroke Association, as many as 800,000 strokes will occur in 2009 – through conscientious patients and appropriate medical care, as many as 500,000 are preventable.
The trial lawyers at Bottar Law, PLLC, have decades of experience investigating, prosecuting and trying to verdict all types of stroke cases, including those arising out a failure to prevent a stroke, failure to diagnose a stroke, or failure to quickly treat a stroke. If your or a loved one have suffered a stroke, you and/or your family may be entitled to compensation for lifelong health care, special education, medical expenses, medical bills, loss of income, and pain and suffering.
To discuss your case or concerns with an experienced Central New York medical malpractice and stroke attorney, contact Bottar Law, PLLC now at (315) 422-3466, (800) 336-LAWS, or by e-mail at info@bottarleone.com.