Ill. Fire Dept. Medics Sued For Misdiagnosed Stroke

An Aurora woman has sued the city and fire department, arguing three paramedics thought she was drunk when she called for emergency help last year when in reality she was having a stroke.

Susan Miller's lawsuit, filed in Kane County this week, argues that paramedics only treated her for six minutes and failed to provide proper care after arriving at her house at 2:04 a.m. May 28, 2012, after she complained of numbness in her arm and that she had fallen and could not get up.

Miller told the paramedics she had drank alcohol earlier in the day and the paramedics, instead of treating her and performing other tests, told her son to have his mother "sleep it off," according to the lawsuit.

Less than three hours later, the woman's ex-husband took her to the Provena Mercy Medical Center in Aurora and doctors determined she suffered a stroke.

"As a result in the delay in receiving the proper medical treatment for her stroke, Miller suffered and continues to suffer from various injuries including but not limited to permanent facial paralysis, vision loss and one-sided paralysis," read part of the lawsuit. "The defendant's utter indifferent or conscious disregard for the safety of Miller is evident from defendant's failure to discover a danger through recklessness or carelessness and which could have been discovered with the exercise of ordinary care."

A message left at the Aurora Fire Department's main station was not returned.

Aurora city spokesman Clay Muhammad said the city had not yet been served with the lawsuit and would not comment. Miller's attorney, Dennis Stefanowicz, did not return messages.

Both sides are due in court June 13. Miller seeks a jury trial and unspecified damages, according to the lawsuit.

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