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Father Gets $400,000 in Compensation After Hospital Failed to Diagnose Stroke

Case Overview
  • Our client was taken to the hospital in an ambulance where he was diagnosed with a heat stroke and sent back home.
  • But his symptoms persisted as the following morning, he drove to see his GP – with his kids in the car with him when he suffered a stroke again.
  • GMP successfully helped him get a settlement of $400K against a Sydney hospital.

Our client experienced neck tightness, pain, a headache and the sudden onset of symptoms on the left side of his body, including numbness, visual impairment, difficulty speaking and dizziness. He believed he was suffering from a stroke. He called an ambulance who took him to the Defendant’s emergency department.

Whilst in the Defendant’s care, he was diagnosed with a heat stroke and sent back home. He trusted the advice of the emergency physicians. When our client was sent home, his symptoms persisted. The following morning, he drove to see his GP – with his kids in the car with him. Unfortunately, our client blacked out and suffered a stroke. Luckily, he managed to safely stop the car.

“The Defendant’s staff failed to take an adequate medical history, perform a neurological examination and investigate the Plaintiff’s condition. As such, this significantly delayed the diagnosis and treatment of our client’s stroke.”


Keegan Behrens
Our Approach

He was then taken back to Hospital and finally diagnosed with a stroke, requiring an ICU admission and extended hospitalisation. Our client continues to suffer from ongoing deficits, psychological disturbance, neurological difficulties and remains deeply troubled by what could have happened to his children whilst he was driving.

We were successfully able to settle the case for over $400,000. Although this money does not alleviate the psychological and emotional trauma suffered by our client as a result of the negligence, it does ensure that negligent medical practitioners are held accountable and that our client can obtain the support he needs to move past this trauma.

At Gerard Malouf & Partners, we pride ourselves on assisting those who are mistreated, misdiagnosed and inadequately cared for by the health system. We are highly specialised and focused medical negligence lawyers with our firm being small enough to care intimately for our clients, but large enough to have the solid, financial, medical and expert resources our clients need to match the big insurers, we fight every day.

For free over the phone advice or to take advantage of our free face-to-face consultation call Gerard Malouf and Partners on 1800 004 878 and ask to speak with one of our experienced medical negligence lawyers.

The Result

We were able to obtain a $400,000 settlement for our client's medical negligence claim against a Sydney-based hospital.

Keegan Behrens

Associate
It is with much pleasure and respect I forward this letter of appreciation to you to commend the services for an outstanding solicitor in Keegan Behrens. Without going into all the unfortunate circumstances, I take this opportunity to sincerely thank Keegan and his team for assisting my wife through the toughest time in her life following on from a medical negligence claim.
Frequently Asked Questions

More Information

Negligence is a failure to exercise the care that another in the same position would prudently exercise. The harm caused by negligence is considered to be due to carelessness, rather than a specific intent or determination to cause harm.

While negligence can include misconduct in a variety of circumstances, malpractice is reserved for professionals who fall grossly short of their obligations — and harm others in the process. As a result, malpractice is often called “professional negligence”. If a licensed professional (such as a doctor, lawyer, or accountant) fails to provide the accepted standard of care and subsequently causes harm to the plaintiff, this form of negligence may be known as malpractice.

Medical malpractice is specifically used in reference to medical workers who have committed acts of negligence.

Demonstrating that a doctor fell short of their duty of care can be a challenging process. While most doctors try their best to correctly diagnose conditions and provide timely medical treatment, they can’t always be right. In every state, protections are in place to shield practitioners from some litigation. These give practitioners peace of mind on the job and protect hospitals that are doing their best with limited resources. However, these laws also set the bar for receiving compensation incredibly high.

Overall, to win a favorable judgment, you must be able to prove Duty, Breach and Damages.

If you have been injured or an existing condition has got worse following a medical procedure, or even just a visit to the doctor, then you may have been the victim of medical negligence and you may be eligible to make medical negligence claims against the professional who caused your injury.

If you can first show that you have suffered harm, and secondly, that a medical professional failed in their duty of care towards you then you may be entitled to compensation.

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About Us
Gerard Malouf & Partners have provided friendly, experienced legal advice to communities across Australia for over 35 years. Our Personal Injury Lawyers have taken on ten’s of thousands of cases and we are proud to have won billions of dollars for our clients.
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Meet the diverse and dynamic team of compensation lawyers and supporting staff that have made this all happen below. Our multi-lingual team can discuss your claims in Arabic, Assyrian, Turkish, Greek, Italian, French, Serbian, Croatian, Armenian, Mandarin, Hindi, Punjabi or Malayalam.
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Meet the diverse and dynamic team of compensation lawyers and supporting staff that have made this all happen below. Our multi-lingual team can discuss your claims in Arabic, Assyrian, Turkish, Greek, Italian, French, Serbian, Croatian, Armenian, Mandarin, Hindi, Punjabi or Malayalam.

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