Understanding What Happened: How We Can Help Families Move Forward
Reaching out to a lawyer after a stroke misdiagnosis doesn’t mean you’ve decided to file a lawsuit. For most families, it simply means you want to understand what happened, and you’d like someone with the right knowledge and resources to help you find out.
The Process Starts With Listening
When you contact our firm, the first step is a conversation. We listen to your account of what occurred: the timeline of symptoms, when and where your loved one sought care, how the situation unfolded, and what you’ve been told since. There’s no agenda in that first call, just a genuine effort to understand your family’s experience before anything else. That conversation shapes everything that follows.
The Medical Review
From there, we gather the relevant medical records and imaging, including:
- Emergency department notes
- Nursing assessments
- Radiology reads
- Physician orders
- Any documentation created during the care in question
We then coordinate a review with independent medical experts. Their role is to examine the care your loved one received and compare it against accepted standards, i.e., what a reasonably competent provider, given the same circumstances and available information, would have recognized and done.
These are not cursory opinions. They are thorough, documented assessments that can withstand scrutiny, and that give your family a clear, grounded picture of what the evidence actually shows.
What the Review Can Find
It’s important to be honest about what that process can find. Sometimes the review concludes that providers acted appropriately, that the signs were genuinely ambiguous, that protocols were followed, and that the outcome, as devastating as it is, did not result from a failure in care. That kind of clarity is hard to hear, but it has real value. It allows families to stop searching for answers that aren’t there and begin finding a way forward.
Other times, the review identifies a departure from accepted care, such as a missed finding on imaging, a failure to administer time-sensitive treatment, or a premature discharge despite warning signs. When that happens, you’ll know it, and you’ll understand why.
Our Commitment to Your Family
Families navigating this kind of loss deserve more than a lawyer who files paperwork. They deserve someone who commits to the process before drawing any conclusions, and who remains honest with them throughout, regardless of where the evidence leads. That’s the commitment we bring to every case.
We carry a limited caseload deliberately, so each family receives focused, consistent attention rather than being passed among assistants or left waiting for updates. You’ll have direct access to your attorney from the first conversation through the resolution of your case, and no significant decision will be made without you.
We know how to handle these cases. That depth of knowledge and experience matters, both in evaluating what the medical evidence shows and in knowing how to pursue accountability effectively when it’s warranted.
No Fees Unless We Win
We work on contingency. If we take your case, you pay no attorney’s fees unless compensation is recovered. The financial risk stays with us, not with your family.
The initial consultation is free, and there is no obligation to proceed. If you’re still trying to make sense of what happened, that’s exactly where this process is designed to begin, with a conversation, and no pressure to do anything more unless and until you’re ready.
Our Process
We guide you through every step with clear communication and compassionate support.
Free Consultation
Call us anytime to discuss your case. We listen carefully and answer all your questions with no obligation.
Medical Review
Our team conducts a thorough investigation with qualified medical experts to determine if malpractice occurred.
Legal Action
If we find evidence of negligence, we build a strong case and handle all legal aspects on your behalf.
Secure Recovery
We fight to secure the financial resources your family needs for long-term care and peace of mind.
Inside the Medical Review: What We Look For and What We May Find
Once the medical review is complete, families have something they often haven’t had since the event occurred: a clear, evidence-based account of what happened and whether the care provided met accepted standards.
How a Failure to Diagnose Happens
Stroke is one of the most commonly misdiagnosed conditions in emergency medicine. It doesn’t always present the way people expect, and providers working under pressure sometimes attribute symptoms to less urgent causes. Common patterns include:
- Delayed or absent imaging: CT scans can miss early ischemic strokes. MRIs with diffusion-weighted imaging are more sensitive, particularly for posterior strokes, but aren’t always ordered. Misreading scans or other imaging errors can also lead to a misdiagnosis.
- Premature discharge: Some patients are evaluated briefly and sent home while still in the acute phase or at risk for a second event.
- Failure to consult neurology: When a provider doesn’t involve neurology in a case that warrants it, the risk of misidentification or a failure to diagnose increases substantially.
- Symptoms mistaken for other conditions: Dizziness, headache, confusion, and slurred speech can mimic vertigo, migraines, or inner ear disorders. When a provider anchors on one of these without ruling out stroke, the treatment window can close.
- Brainstem and posterior circulation strokes: These frequently occur without the classic arm weakness or facial drooping most people associate with stroke. Double vision, difficulty swallowing, or sudden loss of balance are easy to attribute to other causes and require a higher index of suspicion to catch.
In other cases, strokes can be misdiagnosed if transfers take too long. The American Heart Association recommends that at least 50% of transfers should be completed within 90 minutes. Nevada’s time is just over that for acute ischemic stroke eligible for endovascular therapy at 98 to 118 minutes. The median time for other acute ischemic stroke is higher at 168 to 193 minutes, according to JAMA.
Whether the Standard of Care Was Upheld
The review measures what happened against a specific benchmark: what a reasonably competent provider, in the same specialty and under similar circumstances, should have recognized and done. When the evidence shows care fell below that standard, and that the departure caused the harm that followed, that is the foundation of a misdiagnosis case.
What Is at Stake When a Stroke Is Missed
The consequences can be severe and permanent. They can include partial disability, catastrophic neurological injury, locked-in syndrome, which is a condition in which a person retains full consciousness but loses the ability to move or speak, or death. When a person survives a stroke, they may need long-term or even lifelong care.
This care is costly.
| Type of Care | Estimated Cost in Nevada |
| Private duty nurse (hourly rate) | $100/hour |
| Private duty nurse (visit rate) | $165/visit |
| Long-term care facility, e.g., nursing home (semi-private room) | $141,438/year |
| Long-term care facility, e.g., nursing home (private room) | $173,558/year |
Source: Genworth
What Happens When a Departure Is Found
Our Nevada locked-in syndrome lawyers don’t push families toward litigation. That choice belongs to them. Some pursue a claim. Others simply needed to know the truth. Either way, they make that decision from a place of understanding rather than uncertainty.
Talk To Our Legal Team Today
We’re here to answer your questions and help you understand your options.
Schedule a Free Consultation
What Families Can Do When the Review Raises Concerns
If the medical review identifies a departure from the standard of care, the next step is understanding what a legal case would require and what it could accomplish.
What a Case Is Designed to Accomplish
Pursuing a legal claim is not about punishment. It’s about securing the resources your family may need to move forward, such as ongoing medical care, rehabilitation, home modifications, lost income, and the kind of long-term financial stability that a catastrophic injury can otherwise make impossible.
Building the Case
A stroke misdiagnosis case must establish that a provider’s failure to meet the standard of care directly caused the harm your loved one suffered. The review findings form the foundation, but building a case also means identifying who bears responsibility. That may be an individual physician or emergency medicine provider, the emergency department, the hospital system, or multiple parties whose decisions contributed to the outcome. Our stroke misdiagnosis attorneys work through that analysis carefully before any claim is filed.
What You Can Do Right Now
Regardless of where you are in the process, preserving information early matters. If you haven’t already, consider gathering:
- Medical records and imaging discs from every facility involved
- Discharge paperwork and any written instructions given at the time
- A written timeline of events as your family experienced them
- Notes from conversations with providers, including anything you were told about diagnosis or next steps
This information forms the starting point for everything that follows.
Get Help Looking for the Answers You Deserve
If your family is still carrying questions about what happened, we’re here to help you find answers. A free consultation costs nothing and commits you to nothing; it’s simply a conversation. When you’re ready to talk, we’re ready to listen.
What Our Clients Say
Real stories from families we've helped through difficult times.
5.0
Newsome Law are fantastic! They have been working on my case for the past 3+ years and I have not once had a bad experience with anyone who works there. They have worked tirelessly to help me through my accident and the medical bills that loomed overhead. I am extremely pleased and grateful to have them, fighting on my side during this period in my life.
5.0
Selecting a Law Firm in a time of tragedy , is one of the most important decisions you will make in your lifetime. There are so many Firms out there that will chase you down , make unrealistic commitments and set unrealistic expectations. This is the last thing that is needed in such a painful and difficult time
Newsome Law Is a step above all the rest. They are not some run-of-the-mill Firm. But rather an experienced Team of established excellence and success. As one of Newsome Law’s grateful clients, they always operated in the best interest of my family. Were always available to take my call , and were compassionate to the pain and needs of my family. Newsome Law is the right Firm for you to choose.
5.0
5 Stars???!!!! These guys deserve the universe!!!!!!! They came through with every promise and were professional, diligent, smart, friendly, and understanding of the situation I was going through every step of the way. Very happy with the customer service so if that’s a thing for you, that’s another reason to go here. Honestly you will be making a mistake if you don’t go here. Rich is top tier in the US for attorneys and he definitely fought hard to get the job done here. If you want your money… GO HERE!!!!!!!
5.0
Newsome Law represented me in a very positive manner. Always professional, courteous, supportive and attentive. They were always able to keep me apprised of the status of my case. The team on my case were always easy to work with and on top of all issues. I never had to wonder where we were at in the process. I would recommend them to anyone needing this type of help in the future.
5.0
Just an amazing experience with the Newsome Law firm. Our case was very sensitive and close to our hearts. We were treated with the utmost respect for our situation and everything was handled in a professional and timely manner. We cannot say enough good things about the entire team!
5.0
I am so pleased to have worked with this firm. The attention to detail, time spent one on one, not feeling like I was just a number and someone truly caring about what was going on with me and my case was more than I could have ever hoped for. I will use this firm again if I ever need one and will recommend to everyone who asks to reach out to Newsome Law if they find they ever need someone to represent them. More than pleased and happy with everyone and everything from the office. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
5.0
I am so pleased to have worked with this firm. They went above and beyond for my sons case. I would highly recommend this firm to anyone. Always communicated with us, always answered all our questions and fought for my sons case to get the best. Newsome Law thank so much again for all you did. God Bless!
5.0
Partnered with this law firm under unfortunate circumstances and ended up being a great success. They understood the mission and intent, and collectively, conducted all of the behind the scenes work, resulting in a successful end result. If you want one of the best, here’s your opportunity and highly recommended.
5.0
When you’re in a hospital bed all jacked up from an accident and you google best personal injury attorneys, this is who you will find, and they are. Never had been in a lawsuit before and had never needed an attorney. They took such amazing care of me, and handled everything so professionally. A great team of paralegals and attorneys. Thank you so much guys.
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