Couple sues radiologist over alleged missed stroke sign

A Florida couple has sued radiologist Eric J. Sax, MD, and 2 Maine healthcare organizations, alleging a missed CTA finding before Jeffrey Sayward suffered a stroke. The case was filed May 15 in U.S. District Court for the District of Maine.

Jeffrey and Kim Sayward named Sax, Spectrum Healthcare Partners, and MaineHealth in the malpractice complaint. The lawsuit alleges Sax reviewed imaging at Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford, ME, now part of MaineHealth.

Sayward was evaluated after fainting on May 29, 2023, according to the local report. Emergency physicians ordered CTA imaging of the head and neck under a stroke protocol.

Plaintiff attorneys allege that the scan showed a potential clot in a major artery carrying blood to the brain. The complaint claims Sax did not report the finding or communicate it to emergency staff.

“This was a critical finding that a competent radiologist was compelled to detect,” attorney Elizabeth Kayatta wrote in the lawsuit, according to the Sun Journal.

Sayward was discharged from the Biddeford hospital after clinicians attributed his symptoms to likely dehydration, according to the report. Later that day, he developed stroke-like symptoms and was taken to MaineHealth’s Portland hospital, where a second scan confirmed a stroke.

The complaint seeks damages for medical bills, lost earnings, emotional distress, pain and suffering, and injury. Kim Sayward is also seeking damages for loss of consortium.

Sax did not respond to a request for comment through Tufts Medical Center, according to the Sun Journal. The local report said Spectrum Healthcare Partners and MaineHealth also did not respond to requests for comment.

Kayatta told the newspaper the case is the first known medical malpractice lawsuit filed in Maine federal court against a nongovernmental defendant since the U.S. Supreme Court’s January decision in Berk v. Choy. In that case, the court held that Delaware’s affidavit-of-merit requirement for medical malpractice suits does not apply in federal court.