Cook County Failure to Diagnose Internal Bleeding Attorney
At the Chicago law offices of Cirignani Heller & Harman, LLP, our lawyers represent the victims of medical misdiagnosis. Our clients include patients who relied on a doctor’s advice only to experience the devastating effects of a misdiagnosis. When a misdiagnosed brain hemorrhage (bleeding) leads to brain injury, paralysis or wrongful death, we take action by filing medical malpractice lawsuits in Illinois courts.
The Causes of Brain Hemorrhages: What Doctors Should See, but Often Don’t
Brain hemorrhages are caused by arteries or veins in or surrounding the brain breaking and causing localized bleeding in the surrounding tissues, which kills brain cells. Brain hemorrhages can be caused by head trauma, like a bicycle accident. They can also be caused by many other conditions, which doctors should be aware of:
- Anticoagulant use (blood thinners)
- High blood pressure
- Aneurysm (weakening in a blood vessel wall)
- Blood vessel abnormalities
- Amyloid angiopathy (blood vessel abnormality that often happens with aging)
- Blood or bleeding disorders
- Liver disease
- Brain tumors
Doctors’ Negligence and Brain Bleeding
There are many ways that a doctor’s negligent misdiagnosis can be actionable in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Often, doctors fail to notice the signs and symptoms of a brain hemorrhage. These often include prolonged headache or sudden, severe headaches. They include changes in vision, sleepiness, nausea and vomiting, disorientation, confusion, tingling, numbness, loss of balance and difficulty speaking.
Not every patient presents to a physician with “classic” signs and symptoms. If they did, we would not need skilled physicians. At CHHLaw we do not accept the “the symptoms were atypical” defense when a preventable injury has occurred.
Negligent doctors also fail to administer the proper tests — such as CT scans — which would likely reveal a brain injury and lead to appropriate medical or neurosurgical intervention. They further fail to conduct follow-up exams or to monitor patient progress.
