Stroke Misdiagnosis Lawsuits

Failure to Diagnose Strokes and TIAs

Doctors routinely fail to timely diagnose strokes and the early warnings sign of a stroke, such as TIAs. A recent Johns Hopkins study found that early warning signs of potentially dangerous strokes are discounted or overlooked by doctors in thousands of individual cases each year. Most cases of failure to diagnose strokes or TIAs occur when someone comes to the emergency room with complaints of headaches or dizziness. Many of these individuals have suffered a stroke or TIA but are sent home with a benign diagnosis like migraines, vertigo or no diagnosis at all. The Hopkins study estimates that somewhere between 50,000 to 100,000 of these misdiagnosed stroke cases occur in hospital ERs each year.

A large number of medical malpractice claims are based on failures to diagnose TIAs (often called “ministrokes”) and other early warning signs of strokes. The reason for this is very simple. The symptoms of TIAs and other stroke precursors are often very subtle and commonly associated with minor health issues. The vast majority of patients who come to the hospital with bad headaches are not suffering from a TIA, stroke or brain aneurysm. This causes doctors to overlook or discount these symptoms without performing testing to rule out any connection with TIA or stroke. No matter how seemingly benign a person’s symptoms may be, doctors have a duty to rule out stroke or TIA. Checking vitals and sending someone home with Advil is not adequate medical care. Failure to perform sufficient testing to ensure symptoms are not associated with TIA or stroke can be grounds for medical malpractice.

Emergency room and primary care doctors are also quick to ignore the significance of stroke symptoms in women, minorities, and people under 45 and you see this is malpractice cases. Studies show that younger people are a whopping seven times more likely to be misdiagnosed and sent home.

Settlement Value of Malpractice Claims Involving Stroke

The potential settlement value of a medical malpractice case involving failure to diagnose a stroke or TIA varies depending on the severity of the stroke and the resulting impairment. The long-term impact of a stroke varies depending on how extensive the brain damage is and what specific area of the brain it occurs in. A minor stroke may only leave a very small area of damage and only cause temporary impairment of movements. By comparison, a bigger stroke may leave a sizeable segment of the brain damaged causing permanent paralysis in certain areas of the body. Only about 10% to 14 % of people who suffer a stroke make a full recovery. The remaining of stroke victims are left with some degree of permanent disability.

Verdicts and Settlements in Stroke Misdiagnosis Cases

Below are sample stroke misdiagnosis verdicts and settlements. If you are a lawyer or a victim who wants to better understand the settlement value of your stroke misdiagnosis claim, this is information you can use. But a word of caution: you cannot use these malpractice outcomes to figure out the exact or even the approximate value of your case. They are tools to be used in conjunction with other tools to help you better understand the likely settlement range of your case. But that is all it can do.

• 2026, Massachusetts: $1,500,000 Settlement: An elderly woman with atrial fibrillation and a mechanical heart valve relied on home health nurses to administer her medications, including anticoagulants intended to prevent blood clots and stroke. he went several days without her anticoagulation medication, suffered an acute ischemic stroke, and tragically died. The lawsuit alleged that nursing personnel falsely documented that she had been hospitalized and stopped making the ordered home visits. The case defendants denied liability but ultimately settled for $1.5 million during discovery.
• 2026, Massachusetts: $1,000,000 Settlement: A woman with atrial flutter and hypertension suffered a right occipital stroke that caused permanent loss of vision on her left side. The lawsuit alleged that her cardiologist and nurse practitioner failed for years to properly assess her stroke risk and prescribe anticoagulation. The plaintiff’s stroke malpractice lawyer claimed that appropriate anticoagulation would have prevented the cardioembolic stroke. The case settled for $1 million.
• 2025, Virginia: $1,840,000 Settlement: A 74-year-old man went to the ER with symptoms suggesting an acute stroke. Many stroke malpractice cases start in the ER.  But this is not an emergency room malpractice case.  What happened here is that after a remote neurological evaluation, he was given tenecteplase, or TNK, a clot-busting drug used to treat ischemic strokes. But imaging instead showed that he was suffering from a hemorrhagic stroke. Additional intracerebral bleeding developed shortly after the medication was administered, and the man died six weeks later. The wrongful death malpractice case settled for $1.84 million.
• 2025, Michigan: $3,000,000 Settlement: This is a medical error case. A hospital patient suffered a debilitating stroke after doctors and a pharmacist allegedly failed to recognize a dangerous combination of medications. The plaintiff was left with permanent motor and sensory deficits that significantly interfered with her daily activities. The lawsuit alleged negligence in prescribing and allowing the administration of the contraindicated medications. The case settled for $3 million.
• 2024, New York: $2,875,000 Settlement: A 23-year-old woman came to the emergency room after passing out and displayed confusion and difficulty speaking. The lawsuit alleged that doctors failed to timely diagnose and treat an ischemic stroke caused by a blood clot in her brain, resulting in a delay of approximately 16 to 20 hours. By the time the stroke was diagnosed, the opportunity for earlier treatment had been lost, and the woman was left with permanent injuries. The case settled for $2.875 million.
• 2024, Michigan: $1,350,000 Settlement: An 81-year-old hospital patient developed progressive arm weakness while admitted for other medical problems. Nursing staff notified the attending physician, but the doctor allegedly failed to personally evaluate him and initially pursued a diagnosis of radiculopathy. An MRI the following morning revealed an ischemic stroke. By then, the plaintiff alleged, it was too late for thrombolytic therapy or surgical treatment. He was left with permanent brain damage and the need for continuing care. The case settled for $1.35 million.
• 2024, Massachusetts: $3,400,000 Verdict: A 57-year-old woman with atrial fibrillation was taken off Lovenox after developing kidney problems. The plaintiff alleged that her doctor should have placed her on IV heparin or another adequate anticoagulation regimen to protect her from stroke. Two days later she suffered an ischemic stroke and died. A Middlesex County jury found for the plaintiff and awarded $3.4 million. With prejudgment interest, the judgment exceeded $6.6 million.
• 2024, New York: $11,000,000 Verdict: An MTA bus driver suffered a stroke that caused brain damage after doctors allegedly failed to diagnose a deep vein thrombosis in his calf despite ongoing complaints of calf pain. The plaintiff contended that the undiagnosed DVT had previously caused pulmonary emboli and ultimately led to the stroke. A Bronx County jury unanimously found both defendant doctors liable and awarded $11 million.
• 2024, Illinois $40,000,000 Verdict: This is a failure to adequately treat high blood pressure lawsuit. The man, a landscaper and landscape designer, was initially experiencing symptoms such as a persistent cough and high blood pressure when he visited a physician. . Despite being diagnosed with bronchitis, elevated blood pressure, morbid obesity, and tachycardia, the physician only prescribed antibiotics and neglected to address the high blood pressure or conduct any heart-related examinations. Two months later, the man suffered a stroke, severely impacting his ability to work, walk, drive, and eat independently. This case underscores that the doctor usually cannot use poor health conditions against you in a stroke malpractice lawsuit.
• 2023, Pennsylvania: $300,000 Settlement: Wrongful death action was brought against a hospice after an adult female died from a stroke while under the care of the hospice. The estate claimed the hospice was negligent in failing to employ, train, supervise, and retain competent staff and in failing to formulate, adopt, and enforce policies and procedures to ensure quality care for its patients. The low settlement value of this case was obviously due to the fact that the decedent was in a hospice and going to die soon anyway.
• 2022, New York: $1,900,000 Verdict: Plaintiff claimed to suffer a stroke, resulting in significant limitation of the use of his left upper and lower extremities and problems with ambulation, after he presented to the emergency room of defendant South Nassau Communities Hospital and was treated by an emergency physician. The plaintiff alleged that the defendants were negligent in failing to timely diagnose and treat his cerebellar stroke, resulting in his injuries and damages. The defendants denied the allegations.
• 2021, Georgia: $1,500,000 Settlement: The plaintiff reportedly suffered a stroke, resulting in cognitive deficits and the need for constant supervision, while he was recovering from lumbar laminectomy and fusion surgery at a VA Hospital in Atlanta. The plaintiff displayed signs of confusion, agitation, and altered mental status during his admission, and two electrocardiograms were interpreted as abnormal. An MRI revealed that he had suffered a middle cerebral artery stroke. The plaintiff, through his son, contended that the defendant’s agents were negligent in failing to timely and properly provide brain imaging, complete a cardio-embolic workup or diagnose stroke and failing to train and supervise staff.
• 2020, Indiana: $1,000,000 Settlement: A 47-year-old female died from an acute ischemic stroke suffered under the care of the defendants. The lawsuit claimed that the defendants failed to timely diagnose and treat the decedent’s acute ischemic stroke, which contributed to a massive stroke that ultimately caused the decedent’s death.
• 2019, Washington: $13,953,885 Verdict: 17-year-old female plaintiff suffered an embolic stroke during a prolonged cardiac catheterization procedure, but doctors and hospital staff allegedly failed to timely diagnose the stroke despite indications in the post-operative period. Plaintiff claimed that this negligent delay in diagnosing her stroke prevented her from getting effective stroke rescue therapies, and she ultimately suffered brain injury, leaving her with paralysis and limited verbal and cognitive function. Defendants denied liability and argued that plaintiff had a host of major congenital health problems that caused her injuries. Jurors awarded plaintiff over $13 million in damages.
• 2018, Indiana: $450,000 Settlement: Female plaintiff alleged that defendant doctors breached the standard of care when they failed to timely recognize that she had suffered an air embolism (stroke) during a medical procedure when doctors failed to prevent air from entering her heart. Defendants disputed liability, but the case was eventually settled for $450,000.
• 2017, Florida: $500,000 Verdict: Male patient died from an acute ischemic stroke, and his estate sued defendant cardiologists alleging that they negligently failed to diagnose the patient’s atrial fibrillation, failed to perform an echocardiogram, and failed to diagnose and appropriately treat his paresthesia. The suit claimed that these failures eventually led to the fatal stroke, which could have been diagnosed in advance. Defendant denied any breach of the standard of care, but a jury in Palm Beach awarded $500k to the patient’s widow.

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