New York City Failure to Diagnose Meningitis Lawyers

Advocating for Misdiagnosed Patients in New York City

Bacterial meningitis is a serious medical condition, but it is 100% treatable if doctors follow procedure. Doctors should carefully review a patient’s symptoms, run the proper tests, rule out similar diseases like viral meningitis or influenza, and administer antibiotics as soon as possible. Failing to follow proper procedures or misdiagnosing a patient can lead to traumatic injuries to the patient, including brain damage, hearing loss, and other disabilities, as well as death.

If you or someone you love suffered meningitis due to medical negligence, reach out to our team at Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP. Our experienced New York City meningitis misdiagnosis attorneys can review the cause of your injuries and advocate for full compensation from the at-fault hospital. We have more than 50 years of experience investigating medical malpractice claims and can provide the strong legal representation you need during this difficult time. To get a free case evaluation, call us at (212) 986-7353.

What Is Meningitis?

Meningitis is a type of inflammation that impacts the membranes around the brain and spinal cord, resulting in severe swelling that can cause serious injuries and long-term medical conditions. Meningitis is typically caused by a viral or bacterial infection, but can also occur due to parasites or fungus. While every case is serious, bacterial meningitis can be deadly and should be treated immediately.

Bacterial meningitis can lead to:

• Brain damage caused by hydrocephalus or encephalitis
• Epilepsy
• Seizures
• Sepsis
• Paralysis and muscle weakness
• Difficulty speaking
• Vision loss
• Hearing loss
• Memory problems
• Clumsiness
• Fatigue
• Light sensitivity
• Mental health issues like depression
• Death

Viral meningitis is less serious and is rarely fatal, but shares many symptoms with bacterial meningitis. Due to this, a doctor may misdiagnose bacterial meningitis as viral meningitis, leading to delayed medical treatment and serious injuries for the patient.

How Is Meningitis Diagnosed?

In the early stages, meningitis can present like the flu, with patients developing the following symptoms:

• High fever
• Severe headaches
• Confusion and difficulties keeping focus
• Fatigue or difficulty waking up
• Light sensitivity
• Lack of appetite
• Stiff neck
• Seizures
• Nausea and vomiting

Symptoms for meningitis can appear within three to seven days after exposure. Doctors can diagnose meningitis by reviewing a patient’s symptoms and with several tests, such as taking blood samples and collecting cerebrospinal fluid from the spine by performing a lumbar puncture. A lumbar puncture can reveal whether a patient is suffering from viral or bacterial meningitis, thus allowing doctors to administer the right treatment. However, due to meningitis’s similarities with the flu, some doctors fail to perform these tests and misdiagnose their patients, leading to further trauma.

What Are the Risks to Infants and Children?

Meningitis is extremely dangerous for children, who have weaker immune systems that put them at risk for serious complications from infections. This also makes them more likely to contract meningitis, which is spread from person to person, whether viral or bacterial.

Newborns are also an at-risk group for meningitis, but their symptoms may vary compared to adults’. According to the CDC, symptoms of bacterial meningitis in newborns include:

• Appearing slow or inactive
• Abnormal reflexes
• Irritability and crying
• Vomiting
• Refusing to eat or difficulties eating
• Fevers
• Nausea
• Bulging fontanelle (soft spot on an infant’s head)

If a doctor fails to diagnose meningitis in a newborn, it can cause catastrophic birth injuries that cripple the child for life. It is standard procedure to rule out life-threatening diagnoses first, so doctors have no excuse for injuring a child due to medical negligence, and should be held accountable when they do.

The Dangers of Medical Negligence

If a patient contracts bacterial meningitis, doctors should administer treatment as soon as possible. The risk of death is high with this strain of the disease, especially for newborns and young children. Unfortunately, if a doctor delays in providing a diagnosis, misreads symptoms as the flu or viral meningitis, or does not administer antibiotics quickly enough, the patient could suffer severe brain damage, disabilities, or death.

If you or a family member suffered severe injuries as a result of bacterial meningitis due to a doctor’s poor care, then you deserve full compensation. Bacterial meningitis can forever change your life, causing deafness or brain damage, and you should not have to bear these costs alone. A medical malpractice claim can allow you to recover compensation for your injuries, including:

• All medical expenses, including past and future treatment
• Lost wages
• Lost earning potential
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Mental anguish
• Disabilities and disfigurements

Holding Negligent Doctors Accountable

No patient should suffer the consequences of bacterial meningitis when a doctor could have prevented them. There are clear protocols for diagnosing and treating meningitis, and a doctor breaking those protocols can cause undue harm to patients. If you or someone you love suffered injury because of a doctor’s failure to diagnose meningitis, contact a New York City medical malpractice lawyer at Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP, to file a medical malpractice claim.

Our legal team at Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP, has spent more than 50 years fighting for patients injured by negligent medical professionals. We have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in medical malpractice and birth injury claims. Let us provide you with the same reliable legal representation. Call us today at (212) 986-7353 to discuss your case in a free consultation.