Neurologist Fails to Timely Diagnose Cerebral Hemmorage
Case Summary:
Amount: $500,000Court: Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas
Date: June 2005
Plaintiff's Counsel: Jeffrey A. Leikin
Description: Medical Malpractice
A $500,000 settlement was the result of litigation filed on behalf of the family of a young man who had been misdiagnosed at a local Cleveland hospital, resulting in a brain injury to an already handicapped child. The settlement was the culmination of many years of litigation against a neurologist who had failed to timely diagnose a cerebral hemorrhage, causing a delay in relieving swelling and pressure on the child's head.
Experts were retained and deposed in the areas of Pediatric Neurology, Radiology, Surgery and Opthamology in order to reach a successful result. The case turned on whether the child's clinical symptoms and radiographic findings were enough to place his treating physicians on notice that a bleed was ongoing. Plaintiff's expert Neurologist opined that the child should have had undergone emergency surgery and had a drain implanted to relieve the pressure on the child's brain, thereby preventing further damage.
