Doctor sent Denise home despite clear stroke symptoms

SVT reports that 34 year old Denise was sent home from an urgent care clinic despite symptoms that were later found to be caused by a stroke.

Denise became suddenly dizzy and nauseous after returning home from the gym. Her condition worsened, and she developed difficulty seeing through one eye. She told the doctor that her neck felt tense after treatment by a naprapath two days earlier.

The doctor dismissed her loss of visual field by referring to her long eyelashes and sent her home with muscle relaxants. Denise had in fact suffered a stroke, an acute condition that can be life threatening and requires immediate treatment.

Bo Norrving, a professor of neurology, said the doctor’s actions were incomprehensible.

“These are well known symptoms. It is crystal clear that she should have been taken to hospital for investigation and treatment,” he said.

Denise said she regretted not insisting more strongly that something was seriously wrong.

“You think that you do not want to be in the way or be a nuisance,” she said. She also describes what happened and her difficult recovery in a video published by SVT.

Stroke is a collective term for conditions caused by a blood clot or bleeding in the brain. It can cause a sudden loss of speech, movement, sensation or vision and requires immediate hospital care.