On November 8, 2023, a Kansas woman filed a Kansas medical malpractice lawsuit against Saint Luke’s Health System and its physicians alleging that their medical negligence in failing to diagnose her multiple sclerosis led to her disease being untreated for 10 years. The woman’s Kansas medical malpractice lawsuit named as defendants the woman’s former neurologists at Saint Luke’s Health System, Charles L. Weinstein and Sarah Gibbons, as well as Saint Luke’s Physician Group.
The Kansas medical malpractice lawsuit alleges that the plaintiff’s physicians at Saint Luke’s Health System misdiagnosed her with migraine headaches, and treated her only for migraine headaches, which led to the progression of her demyelinating disease. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants “ignored, dismissed, failed to consider or follow-up on, and/or they failed to further test appropriately toward a differential diagnosis.” and that the failure to diagnose her timely and properly allowed her multiple sclerosis to remain untreated and caused lasting debilitating effects. It was not until ten years later that her neurologist at St. Luke’s Health System recommended that she seek treatment at another hospital, after which her multiple sclerosis/relapsing-remitting was finally diagnosed and treatment begun, albeit late.
A spokesperson for St. Luke’s Health System stated in a statement on December 1, 2023: “Saint Luke’s is deeply committed to providing the highest level of care to every patient. While we are unable to comment on pending litigation, we can say we are proud of the exceptional care we provide and have the utmost confidence in our physicians who dedicate their lives to serving our patients.”
What Is Multiple Sclerosis?
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common disabling neurological disease of young adults with symptom onset generally occurring between the ages of 20 to 40 years. In MS, the immune system cells that normally protect us from viruses, bacteria, and unhealthy cells mistakenly attack myelin in the central nervous system (brain, optic nerves, and spinal cord). Myelin is a substance that makes up the protective sheath (myelin sheath) that coats nerve fibers (axons). MS is a chronic disease that affects people differently. A small number of people with MS will have a mild course with little to no disability, whereas others will have a steadily worsening disease that leads to increased disability over time. Most people with MS, however, will have short periods of symptoms followed by long stretches of relative quiescence (inactivity or dormancy), with partial or full recovery. The disease is rarely fatal and most people with MS have a normal life expectancy.
Early MS symptoms often include:
- Vision problems such as blurred or double vision, or optic neuritis, which causes pain with eye movement and rapid vision loss
- Muscle weakness, often in the hands and legs, and muscle stiffness accompanied by painful muscle spasms
- Tingling, numbness, or pain in the arms, legs, trunk, or face
- Clumsiness, especially difficulty staying balanced when walking
- Bladder control problems
- Intermittent or constant dizziness
MS may also cause later symptoms, such as:
- Mental or physical fatigue which accompanies the early symptoms during an attack
- Mood changes such as depression or difficulty with emotional expression or control
- Cognitive dysfunction—problems concentrating, multitasking, thinking, learning, or difficulties with memory or judgment
Muscle weakness, stiffness, and spasms may be severe enough to affect walking or standing. In some cases, MS leads to partial or complete paralysis and the use of a wheelchair is not uncommon, particularly in individuals who are untreated or have advanced disease. Many people with MS find that weakness and fatigue are worse when they have a fever or when they are exposed to heat. MS exacerbations may occur following common infections.
Pain is rarely the first sign of MS but pain often occurs with optic neuritis and trigeminal neuralgia, a disorder that affects one of the nerves that provides sensation to different parts of the face. Painful limb spasms and sharp pain shooting down the legs or around the abdomen can also be symptoms of MS.
If you or a loved one may have been injured as a result of the misdiagnosis of multiple sclerosis in Kansas or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a Kansas medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your multiple sclerosis medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a multiple sclerosis medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
Click here to visit our website or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959 to find multiple sclerosis medical malpractice attorneys in your U.S. state who may assist you.
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