In Patient v. Stroke Center (Nor. Cal. Sup. Ct.) Doris Cheng and Christian Jagusch successfully prosecuted an action against a stroke center for failing to diagnose an evolving stroke in a vibrant and brilliant 48-year-old young woman. Before the stroke, plaintiff had a keen mind for math and game theory. She was taken by ambulance to the emergency department after she collapsed at home. At the ED, she was awake, but confused and unable to follow commands, trying to climb out of bed. The emergency physician ordered a CT scan, but did not activate the hospital’s stroke protocol. The on-call radiologist misread the CT scan, failing to identify a hyperdense mild cerebral artery sign and should have been reported as evidence of a stroke. Hospital protocol required the patient to be given IV tPA upon suspicion of a stroke. Stroke Center rules also required a neuroradiologist, rather than a community radiologist, to read the head CT scan. Neither of these requirements were followed. The medical providers’ failure to diagnose and treat the stroke with IV tPA and mechanical thrombectomy resulted in permanent brain damage. Doris and Christian ultimately negotiated a settlement of $7,750,000, which will be used to provide for her ongoing and lifetime care needs.
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