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    Today is World Thrombosis Day

    Law 3 Mins Read
    Photo by World Thrombosis Day

    As first appeared in NewsBreak

    By Aron Solomon

    Today, Friday, October 13th is World Thrombosis day and HCA Florida is making a big media push to highlight their capabilities in diagnosing and treating strokes. 

    The reality might not be perfectly aligned with the spin. 

    Nationally, HCA Healthcare has been sued for various reasons related to stroke treatment, including allegations of poor results. 

    Here are some examples of lawsuits and initiatives related to stroke treatment involving HCA Healthcare:

    Failure to give or delay in giving tPA

    In 66 identified cases, plaintiffs sued HCA Healthcare for issues stemming from either failure to give tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) or a delay in giving tPA, a common treatment for acute ischemic stroke. 

    Overcharging certain patients

    HCA Healthcare was accused of overcharging certain patients in a 2014 lawsuit. Another lawsuit filed in 2023 alleged that HCA Healthcare and its medical staffing company, TeamHealth, intentionally ran up patient costs with medically unnecessary trauma alerts and added tests, such as CT scans, extra blood samples, and X-rays. 

    Data breach and class-action lawsuits

    In 2023, HCA Healthcare experienced a multimillion-patient data breach, which led to class-action lawsuits alleging negligence. 

    Efforts to improve stroke care

    Patients and families reading HCA’s own materials see only that HCA Healthcare has been working to prevent, treat, and beat strokes. The company claims to respond to strokes 30% faster than the national standard and has 31 recognized comprehensive stroke centers. HCA Healthcare’s stroke experts use proven clinical protocols, telemedicine, and coordinated care to provide timely, state-of-the-art service to patients. 

    Attorney Nicole Kruegel points out, “From the perspective of a Florida plaintiff’s medical malpractice lawyer, the reality of HCA Florida is different, certainly in my experience. We have a long list of clients who allege missed or delayed diagnosis of stroke while patients at HCA Florida. The stories we hear simply don’t align with HCA’s corporate messaging.”

    World Thrombosis Day is the perfect opportunity to separate facts from spin when it comes to strokes and stroke prevention.

    About Aron Solomon

    A Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer, Aron Solomon, JD, is the Chief Legal Analyst for Esquire Digital and the Editor-in-Chief for Today’s Esquire. He has taught entrepreneurship at McGill University and the University of Pennsylvania, and was elected to Fastcase 50, recognizing the top 50 legal innovators in the world. Aron has been featured in Forbes, CBS News, CNBC, USA Today, ESPN, TechCrunch, The Hill, BuzzFeed, Fortune, Venture Beat, The Independent, Fortune China, Yahoo!, ABA Journal, Law.com, The Boston Globe, YouTube, NewsBreak, and many other leading publications.

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