Brain Haemorrhage and related Neurological Injuries
You may know of someone who has suffered as a result of a failure to diagnose a brain haemorrhage or other suspected negligent neurological treatment. These injuries are often life threatening and frequently result in massive damage to the person and their persona.
It is no easy task to clearly indicate how and when such actions arise however, put at its simplest, a brain haemorrhage occurs when bleeding starts in or around the brain (frequently as a symptom of broken blood vessels) and this bleeding itself causes a change in the local pressure or circulation of blood within the brain. This situation is very serious usually leads to severe long term problems or even death.
What is critical in these cases is very early diagnosis. At first the symptomology can be confused with severe headache or migraine and for this reason often Emergency Departments or A and E are placed under a great deal of strain to determine one from the other. Is this a routine headache or something more serious? This failure or delay is often the first level of concern by the family or those attending to the patient, who are often the people with ready access to the necessary information. They frequently know that the symptoms are significant and out of character and there is often frustration that clinicians cannot readily understand this.
Some of the symptoms of underlying neurological problems include severe headaches, nausea, vision problems, seizures and loss of consciousness. Clinical diagnostic techniques available include CT and MRI scans and if these are used appropriately will diagnose severe conditions such as subarachnoid haemorrhage, cerebral haemorrhage, subdural and extradural haemorrhage, intracranial haemorrhage etcetera very quickly indeed. Regrettably, these symptoms are sometimes not investigated thoroughly enough on first presentation and the underlying problems which can cause these brain haemorrhages do go undiagnosed with the attendant damage that failure to act quickly can cause. The clinical evidence required in order to bring these matters to a successful conclusion from a legal perspective is highly significant and it requires a very specialised approach. If you feel that someone you know could benefit from having a case such as this investigated then call our specialist team.
Linked very closely to brain haemorrhage actions are those that fall within the ambit of neurological conditions. These often include mistakes made during surgery, or incorrect prescription or administration of drugs. The changes in the chemical balance of the blood chemistry as a side effect of overdose can often cause the brain to swell and this swelling can result in significant damage if left untreated. A simple mistake in prescription on what may be the simplest and most harmless medication can result very quickly in a life threatening condition. Again, it is essential that the right questions are asked very early on in the diagnostic stage of treatment and again it is often difficult for the treating clinicians to be able to determine the root cause of the issues. However, diagnostic routes and protocols are available and tools that will assist the clinicians are on hand in every hospital. If they are not deployed quickly the results can be catastrophic. If you feel that such a situation has been experienced by someone you know and you think that this is a matter which should be investigated, call us today.