Wilmington Personal Injury Lawyer - stroke

Delay in Diagnosis: Failure to Timely Diagnose Stoke

Jean Martin — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:30:02 GMT

Caroline Monaghan was seen by her primary care physician, who determined that she possibly had blockage in her carotid arteries. Such a blockage, also known as stenosis, carries a great risk for a stroke. Monaghan then had an ultrasound, which found that she had 70% blockage in her left carotid artery. She was referred to a vascular surgeon who ordered an MRA/MRI. Based upon an incorrect interpretation of the MRA/MRI results, another doctor determined that Monaghan had only 50% blockage.

A carotid artery with 50% blockage is treated with aspirin therapy and monitoring. A test revealing 70% blockage can actually understate the amount of blockage, which could be as high as 99%, requiring emergency treatment.

Unfortunately for Ms. Monaghan, the incorrect reading of her MRA/MRI prevented her from having immediate surgical treatment. Days later, Ms. Monaghan suffered a massive stroke causing severe brain damage.

A Pennsylvania jury found the doctor who incorrectly read the MRA/MRI negligent and awarded over $5 million in damages. Recently an appeallate panel upheld the award.

Failure to timely diagnose and treat symptoms of a stroke can have dire consequences, as is evidenced by this case. When stroke victims are not treated quickly, they can suffer brain injury, paralysis, memory problems, and death. Quick diagnosis and treatment can prevent serious injury and death.

Know the warning signs and seek immediate treatment if you start experiencing any. And never be afraid to ask for a second medical opinion. You owe it to yourself and your family.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jean Martin

Stroke Risks and Symptoms Overlooked in Women

Jean Martin — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:50:24 GMT

Women between the ages of 45 and 54 are twice as likely to suffer strokes as men of the same age. Women are also more likely than men to be physically or mentally impaired as a result of a stroke. Unfortunately, doctors often overlook the opportunities to prevent strokes in women because of an emphasis in medical school that strokes and heart attacks are male problems.

According to the American Stroke Association, more than 100,000 American women under 65 suffer strokes every year. That’s well above the 83,000 women in the same range who have heart attacks. Studies show that physicians take longer to diagnose women as having suffered a stroke, and women are less likely to get treatments or tests that can improve chances for recovery.

Time is the biggest factor hindering the chances of avoiding death or a lifelong disability. There is a just a three-hour window to use a clot-busting drug test called tPA. However, according to a study of over 2,000 patients from researchers at Michigan State University, women are 30% less likely to receive tPA than men. One of the researchers noted that 60% of stoke-related deaths occur in women.

Of further concern is the post-diagnosis treatment women receive after having a stroke. Female patients often miss out on two tests that can help prevent future problems: the imaging of the carotid artery in the neck, which feeds blood to the brain, and an echocardiogram, which can show heart abnormalities, according to Lewis Morgenstern, director of the stroke program at the University of Michigan Medical School. According to Morgenstern, one in seven patients has a second stroke within a year, and these tests are crucial to their prevention.

* Many thanks to intern/law student Josh McIntyre for his contributions to this blog.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jean Martin

Club Nuva – You may want to rethink membership

Jean Martin — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:17:58 GMT

ClubNuva is an extreme marketing ploy, the likes of which I’ve never seen, being used by Schering Plough and Organon to promote the use of the NuvaRing vaginal ring contraceptive. In an attempt to reach young women under the age of 40 and entice them to use NuvaRing as their method of birth control, the manufacturer came up with this internet club for its consumers. By signing up for ClubNuva, you can get your daily horoscope, send electronic postcards to your friends, be updated with fashion and entertainment news, and try your hand at free verse poetry. Is this a drug company site or a site of pop culture?

While ClubNuva says that you can also sign up for health news, my guess is that the manufacturers won’t give you the full health news about their NuvaRing product. My guess is that this flashy site with its alluring charm won’t tell you that use of NuvaRing increases your chance for blood clots, pulmonary embolisms, stroke, heart attack, and toxic shock syndrome.

In this day where direct-to-consumer advertising has become the norm for drug manufacturers, ClubNuva pushes the envelope too far in my book. ClubNuva is equivalent to the cool “facebook” or “myspace” for NuvaRing users. If you can get past the flashy invite to the site and scroll way down to the bottom, there you can find some “Important Safety Information.” But does anyone honestly believe that most visitors get that far? And the safety information, in my opinion, does not highlight enough the risks associated with NuvaRing. Drug companies should be more responsible.

Women, please do not be fooled by this new marketing tactic and do not be enticed by membership in this fancy online club. The risks of NuvaRing make the price of admission to this club too high, as you could possibly pay with your life!

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jean Martin

Zelnorm Can Cause Heart Problems, Including Heart Attack and Stroke

Jean Martin — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:17:49 GMT

Zelnorm is a drug to treat Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) in women. On March 30, 2007 , the FDA ordered that manufacturer Novartis stop selling Zelnorm due to an increased risk of serious heart problems. Women who used Zelnorm suffered an alarming high number of heart attack, stroke, irregular heart beat, angina, and serious chest pains, which sometimes signaled a “silent” heart attack. Users of Zelnorm received no warnings of these serious side effects until the FDA ordered Zelnorm to be withdrawn from the market.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jean Martin