What stroke symptoms often result in misdiagnosis?

Different illnesses can share the same symptoms. Nonetheless, medical professionals must perform all the necessary tests and procedures to narrow down the possible illnesses and eventually diagnose the correct ones.

Unfortunately, some medical professionals fail to carry out their duties carefully and within medical standards, resulting in severe consequences, such as misdiagnosis. In stroke cases, a common cause for misdiagnosis is mistaking symptoms of stroke as symptoms of another kind of illness.

Symptoms stroke shares with other illnesses

Sometimes, medical professionals fail to notice stroke and negligently assume symptoms result from other illnesses without ordering the proper tests. Below are some of the illnesses commonly misdiagnosed due to them sharing similar symptoms with stroke:

• Migraine: Headache, limb numbness or tingling, slurred speech, loss of sight or experiencing unusual sights such as flashing lights or patterns
• Seizures: Limb numbness, tingling or weakness
• Irregular blood sugar level: Headache, dizziness, weakness, blurred sight, tingling around the mouth and affected movement
• Bell’s palsy: Drooping face and weakness of or inability to move facial muscles
• Brain tumors: Headache, limb weakness, difficulty with balance, slurred speech or blurred sight
• Multiple sclerosis: Loss of sight or blurred vision, limb numbness, tingling or weakness
• Sepsis: Confusion, affected movement

If a doctor misdiagnoses stroke as another illness, they will likely prescribe the wrong treatment or medicine, which can result in the patient’s aggravated condition, additional injury or worse, death.

Facing medical negligence head-on

Medical professionals have a medical standard of care to uphold, a standard that is the foundation of patients’ trust in them. Accordingly, a doctor’s failure to perform their duty to timely and correctly diagnose an illness, resulting in a patient’s injury or fatality, is a cause for a medical malpractice lawsuit.

If you believe that you or a loved one is a victim of a medical professional’s misdiagnosis, you should familiarize yourself with your rights and explore legal options to seek compensation for the damages you suffered.