When doctors and health care providers fail to render appropriate medical care, brain injuries may result. Medical malpractice results when avoidable error results in authentic, preventable patient harm in the form of brain injuries. David A. Axelrod & Associates fights for patients who have endured brain injuries due to medical malpractice.

Misinterpretation of Disease Signs

The most common cause of medical malpractice leading to brain injuries is misinterpretation of disease signs and symptoms, caused by a lack of professional knowledge.

Neurologic and Brain Injury Common Cases

Some examples of instances in which diagnostic errors cause debilitating or permanent brain injuries, include:

• Failing to properly diagnose and treat an infection, which worsens, ultimately causing brain injury
• Incorrectly diagnosing a brain abscess as a sinus infection, when that abscess worsens and results in emergency brain surgery which may require removing a portion of the skull
• An ophthalmologist’s failing to diagnose a brain tumor which has visual symptoms such as decreased visual acuity, headache, loss of visual field, optic atrophy, and worsening coordination
• Failing to perform a CT scan when post-operative patients experience respiratory difficulties that indicate complications from surgery and brain injuries result
• Failing to diagnose critical brain conditions such as aneurysms, brain tumors, hydrocephalus, and cerebral lesions, when the conditions later result in permanent developmental injuries

Newborn Brain Injuries

Doctors and health care providers must treat pregnant women with great care to prevent newborn brain injuries. If a pregnant woman suffers from a relatively minor infection, and amniocentesis is not timely performed to verify the ongoing health of the infant, the infection may worsen and the infant may be born with a resulting brain injury. Improperly administering anesthesia to a woman in labor may result in the infant’s receiving insufficient oxygen during birth, causing permanent brain injuries such as Cerebral Palsy (CP) or a seizure disorder in the newborn infant.

Improper Treatment

There are also instances in which doctors and healthcare providers mistreat a patient, resulting in brain injuries. For instance, raising a hospital patient’s sodium levels too quickly can cause encephalitis, leading to irreversible brain damage. In other instances, doctors prescribe a particularly powerful medication, such as an anticonvulsant, and the medication exacerbates rather than heals existing conditions. Improperly or carelessly performed spinal surgeries can also cause serious and permanent brain injuries.

Brain injuries can also occur after cardiac or other major surgery. If the doctors do not make sure that there is enough oxygen going to the patient’s brain in post-surgery care, permanent brain injuries may result.