By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated On 2nd August 2024. Welcome to our stroke misdiagnosis claims guide.
Did you or a loved one suffer signs of a stroke and were not treated appropriately due to misdiagnosis? While in some cases, it might not be possible to offer an accurate diagnosis of a stroke quickly enough to reduce the harm suffered by a patient, if you received negligent medical care that led to you suffering avoidable harm, you could be eligible to claim stroke misdiagnosis compensation.
In this stroke misdiagnosis claims guide, we look at how a stroke misdiagnosis lawsuit could come about. We will take you through the signs, symptoms and treatments for a stroke, the complications that could be caused by a misdiagnosis, and how to go about making a claim for yourself or on behalf of a loved one that has suffered due to medical negligence when diagnosing a stroke.
If you would like to ask us anything about claiming compensation for a stroke misdiagnosis or would like to begin a claim, you can reach us on 0800 073 8804. We’ll be happy to help you.
Select A Section
- What Is A Misdiagnosis?
- Complications Which Could Be Caused By Misdiagnosis
- Claiming On Behalf Of A Loved One Who Had A Stroke
- How Much Stroke Misdiagnosis Compensation Could I Receive?
- No Win No Fee Stroke Misdiagnosis Compensation Claims
- Essential References
What Is A Misdiagnosis?
A misdiagnosis is where a medical professional does not provide the correct diagnosis for the medical condition you have. While in some cases it may not be possible for a medical professional to accurately diagnose you because there are mitigating factors involved, they should do all that they can to provide you with safe, effective care.
If they are negligent in doing so, they could be held liable for any avoidable harm you suffer due to their negligence through stroke misdiagnosis claims.
Negligence could occur if:
- A doctor fails to recognise the signs of you suffering a stroke.
- The relevant tests were not ordered which meant you did not get an accurate diagnosis.
- There was a delay in getting a brain scan for those with symptoms of a stroke (according to RRCP guidelines 2012 this should be within 12 hours of the patient being admitted).
- An inaccurate analysis of test results could lead to a misdiagnosis
- There was a delay in you receiving vital treatment, such as thrombolysis treatment
Whether you had a stroke misdiagnosed as a seizure or had a haemorrhagic stroke misdiagnosed because a brain scan was not ordered when it should have been, or there was any other unacceptable delay in treatment that has caused you to suffer avoidable harm, this could lead you to be entitled to stroke misdiagnosis compensation.
Complications Which Could Be Caused By Misdiagnosis
As we have mentioned earlier in this stroke misdiagnosis claims guide, clinical negligence by having a brain stroke diagnosed incorrectly could affect your recovery. Some of the complications that could occur because of a misdiagnosis of strokes could include:
- Fatalities – Unfortunately, if a stroke progresses, and is not treated quickly enough, the patient may not survive it.
- Physical disability – Some damage to the brain could affect a person physically. Depending on the part of the brain that was damaged, there could be a range of physical disabilities inflicted, from muscle tightness or spasms to cases where serious paralysis is caused by a stroke.
- Intellectual deficit – If damage is done to the part of the brain that affects your ability to think, issues could include memory loss, confusion, inability to concentrate, speech disorders and mood changes, for example.
- Pain – chronic headaches could also be a complication of damage caused by a stroke
It is important for us to mention that not all effects caused by a stroke could be claimed for. However, if you could prove that medical malpractice in diagnosing you has caused you to suffer avoidable harm or a stroke occurs, you could be entitled to claim stroke misdiagnosis compensation.
Claiming On Behalf Of A Loved One Who Had A Stroke
Unfortunately, some stroke misdiagnosis cases could lead to a person lacking the physical or mental capacity to be able to make stroke misdiagnosis claims for their own injuries. If this is the case, someone could act on the injured party’s behalf. This person would be referred to as a litigation friend. A litigation friend could be a parent/guardian, a friend, a solicitor, a deputy for the Court of Protection, a family member, a professional advocate or someone with an enduring or lasting power of attorney.
According to the government, to be considered a suitable litigation friend, it would have to be confirmed that you:
- Do not have conflicting interests with the affected person.
- Can make case decisions fairly and competently.
If the injured party was to regain capacity during the claims process, you may need to apply to stop being the injured party’s litigation friend.
How Much Stroke Misdiagnosis Compensation Could I Receive?
There are two different heads of loss that stroke misdiagnosis compensation can be awarded under; general and special damages. Compensation for the physical and psychological harm caused is awarded under general damages Financial losses stemming from this harm will be compensated under special damages.
Coming up with a potential compensation figure is something our expert solicitors can help you with. Those assigned this task can refer to your medical documents alongside the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).
This detailed document contains compensation guidelines for different types of harm. We have used some of the JCG figures here
Potential Compensation Values
Please take note that these compensation figures have been included for guidance purposes only. The first figure was not taken from the JCG.
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- Multiple instances of very severe harm, along with substantial financial losses, could result in an award of up to £1,000,000 or more.
- Very Severe brain damage resulting in little to no environmental response and requiring full-time care could receive a payment of £344,150 to £493,000.
- Moderately Severe brain damage causing serious disability and substantial dependency on others could result in compensation between £267,340 to £344,150.
- Moderate brain damage causing a moderate to severe intellectual deficit and significant epilepsy risk could receive compensation between £183,190 and £267,340.
- A case of Moderate brain damage resulting in a moderate to modest intellectual deficit and personality change could be awarded £110,720 to £183,190 in compensation.
- Cases of Moderate brain damage where concentration and memory have been impacted, reducing ability to work could receive a compensation amount of £52,550 to £110,720.
- Less Severe brain damage where there have been similar symptoms to the above bracket but a good recovery has been made could receive compensation valued from £18,700 to £52,550.
Minor Brain Injury where there has minimal brain damage that resolves within a few years could warrant compensation between £2,690 and £15,580.
Special Damages You Could Claim
In addition to general damages, it may be possible to also claim special damages when seeking compensation for a stroke misdiagnosis. Special damages may be included to cover financial expenses or losses that are directly related to the misdiagnosis that harmed you.
Examples may include:
- The cost of home provisions or special equipment needed to complete day-to-day activities.
- Travel costs for vital appointments, such as taxi fares.
- Loss of earnings, if the misdiagnosis has forced a change of employment status or you’ve needed to take unpaid time off work.
Be sure to retain copies of your payslips, travel tickets and other documents that show you incurred these losses.
For more advice about how much you could claim for your own stroke misdiagnosis claim, contact our team online or on the phone today.
No Win No Fee Stroke Misdiagnosis Compensation Claims
If you wish to use the services of a medical negligence solicitor, which are similar to a personal injury solicitor, but you are concerned that you might have to pay out large amounts of money upfront to benefit from their assistance, you may be relieved to learn that you could get this help without having to pay anything until your stroke misdiagnosis claims are successful.
Claiming on a No Win No Fee basis means you would not be required to pay anything upfront or throughout your claim. Instead, you would be given an agreement to sign, known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), which would effectively promise your lawyer a small success fee once they had successfully obtained compensation for you.
This would be capped, legally, so you would not have to worry that a large proportion of your compensation would go to your lawyer. If your lawyer was unable to get compensation for you, you would not have to cover their costs or pay them the success fee.
If you would like to be provided with a No Win, No Fee lawyer to help you with your stroke misdiagnosis claim, we could help with this. If you have questions about claiming on this basis, do feel free to call us – we’ll be happy to help.
To reach us, simply call 0800 073 8804, email info@legalexpert.co.uk, complete our contact form or use the Live Chat service on this page. With no charge for advice or eligibility checks, there’s no reason not to get in touch to find out how to claim the compensation you deserve.
Essential References
- Stroke Claim Case Study – This case study covers an incident where a patient successfully claimed compensation for stroke-related paralysis.
- Paralysis Claims – Here, you can read more information concerning paralysis claims due to medical negligence.
- A Guide To Misdiagnosis – This page covers misdiagnosis claims in detail.
- Stroke Recovery – This NHS page on stroke recovery gives information for those who have suffered a stroke and those who may be caring for them.
- Headway – This organisation helps those with head and brain injuries and conditions. You may find some useful information here.
- Strokes And Driving – A stroke may affect your ability to drive. You can find more information about when to tell the DVLA about a stroke.
Some Other Claims We Could Help With
- Head Injury Claims
- Paralysis Medical Negligence Claims
- Stress At Work Solicitors
- How Much Compensation For Brain Injury Claims?
- Personal Injury Claims – Time Limit
Thanks for reading our stroke misdiagnosis claims guide on how to claim the stroke misdiagnosis compensation that you deserve.
