Misdiagnosis of head injuries

Pursue compensation for head injury misdiagnosis

A brain injury caused by someone else’s negligence, or due to a failure to timely diagnose a head injury, can have serious knock-on effects for the victim and their family’s lives. Financial compensation not only helps ease the pain and suffering involved when someone misdiagnoses a head injury or brain issue, but allows victims to pursue the best rehabilitation programmes available and prevent their family from having to pay for costly medical bills.

Our team of serious injury and medical misdiagnosis experts have the experience you need to pursue a compensation claim in this complicated sector of law.

What are the different types of head injury misdiagnosis claims?

Head injury misdiagnosis claims usually fall into two categories, namely:

• Failure to diagnose an injury/severity of the injury
• Incorrect treatment of an injury

A failure to diagnose an injury entirely or a failure to diagnose the severity of an injury can have devastating results. If your medical professional does not carry out appropriate, accurate investigations when determining a head injury  or ignores the symptoms, this can lead to serious problems and a deterioration in the condition. In addition, if your medical professional does not interpret the tests or investigations correctly, this can also cause further injury, especially if they administer the wrong treatment or fail to administer any treatment at all.

The incorrect treatment of an injury can lead to  a failure to administer any treatments for a head injury or the correct treatment for the injury sustained. For example, you may have only been treated for a minor head injury, when in fact, the head injury was severe and necessitated urgent operative intervention.

To determine the exact specifics of a misdiagnosis of a head injury and pursue a compensation claim, you will need a team of experienced solicitors who have successfully dealt with this type of medical misdiagnosis claim.

What are the different types of head injuries?

There are many different types of head injuries that can occur, namely the following:

• Closed head injuries – where the injury does not penetrate the skull or brain tissue, this can often include concussion.
• Open head injuries – where the injury penetrates the skull. An open injury may cause damage to the brain tissue, skull fractures, bleeding on the brain or may cause the bones to touch your brain tissue.
• Injury to the brain likely due to oxygen starvation.
• Bleeding on the brain.

What are some of the symptoms of a head injury?

This is a short list of the symptoms associated with head injuries:

• Change in mood/moodswings
• Unconsciousness
• Fits or seizures
• Blood or clear fluid coming from the nose or ears
• Memory problems
• Dizziness
• Confusion
• Vomiting
• Sleeping too much
• Sleeping too little/trouble sleeping
• Mobility problems
• Unusual behaviour
• Emotional problems
• Double vision
• Sensory problems

This is by no means an exhaustive list of symptoms. If you have been injured and suffered a head injury, always have a medical professional examine you.

Diagnosis of head injuries

The doctor will use the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) to assess the severity of the head injury. In addition, you may be required to have a CT/MRI scan. Failure to make a correct and timely diagnosis can lead to further brain injury and even death. Therefore it is vital that a correct diagnosis is made and the appropriate treatments commenced.  If your medical professional fails to provide you with the adequate level of care or misdiagnoses a head injury or the severity of a head injury and you are injured as result, you deserve compensation.

Misdiagnosis of brain injuries

Whilst head injuries and brain injuries are often thought of as similar or the same thing, brain injuries can be caused by a wide range of different things, not all of which include a physical head injury. A brain injury caused by a head injury is known as a traumatic brain injury, and whilst misdiagnosis or a delayed diagnosis is definitely possible with this type of condition, the physical head injury can often mean that the medical professionals responsible for your care are more likely to look for a brain injury too.

However, with non-traumatic brain injuries, also often referred to as acquired brain injuries, there can often be fewer physical symptoms, which can make diagnosis more difficult. Non-traumatic brain injuries can be caused by things including, but not limited to:

• A brain tumour
• An illness, such as meningitis or encephalitis
• A lack of oxygen
• A heart attack
• An auto-immune condition
• A stroke
• An aneurysm or brain haemorrhage
• A complication with diabetes

A misdiagnosis or late diagnosis of a serious brain injury can have serious consequences and can sometimes mean that further damage is caused, or the injury causes permanent problems because the right treatment wasn’t given at the right time. A delayed or misdiagnosis of a brain injury that happened because a medical professional was negligent with your care could mean that you’re eligible to claim compensation.

What should I do next if I think a head or brain injury was misdiagnosed?

If you believe you have suffered as a result of a misdiagnosis of a head injury, or someone you love has been affected by someone else’s negligence, it’s vital that you contact the expert medical misdiagnosis solicitors at Stephensons today. We have the expertise you need to successfully bring about a compensation claim in this difficult area of law.

A compensation claim ensures that victims have access to the very best rehabilitation programmes and ensures the best interests of their family are looked after. Let us help you claim the compensation you deserve.

For free initial guidance on your options and to discuss your head injury misdiagnosis claim call us on 01616 966 229 and speak to an expert medical negligence solicitor today. All initial guidance is free and there is no obligation to proceed whatsoever.