Emergency room physician Dylan Rylak, MD, and two physician groups are being sued for $2.4 million in a medical malpractice suit that claims the physician missed signs of a patient having a stroke, the Staunton News Leader reported Aug. 9.
Augusta Emergency Physicians and Shenandoah Emergency Medicine Specialists, both based in Fishersville, Va., are the groups named in the suit.
According to the suit, in 2020 a patient went to the Augusta Health emergency room in Fishersville complaining of slurred speech, weakness on his left side, headache and trouble breathing.
Dr. Rylak allegedly ordered a chest X-ray and an electrocardiogram and then left the exam room for several hours. He then told the patient he was suffering from reactive airways disease or lingering flu symptoms.
The patient's symptoms continued and he went to a different physician, who ordered a CT, which showed he was having a stroke. The patient was hospitalized for 12 days.
The lawsuit, which is seeking $2.4 million, alleges that Dr. Rylak failed to perform a complete exam, failed to order a CT and failed to notice the patients' symptoms.