Couple sues over wife's alleged delayed stroke treatment

A stroke patient and her husband are suing Alton Memorial Hospital and her doctor for allegedly failing to act as quickly as possible to treat her.

According to a lawsuit filed on April 28 in Madison County Circuit Court, Sarah E. and Mark Osborne filed a complaint against Dr. David W. Burnside and Alton Memorial Hospital.

On May 26, 2014, Sarah Osborne allegedly came under the care of the defendants after suffering a stroke.

At 12:03 a.m., while going through initial testing, the defendants contacted the stroke team at Barnes Hospital and they advised a Tissue Plasminogen Activator be administrated, the lawsuit states.

But the defendants didn't perform the recommended procedure, the suit states.

Then at 1:10 a.m., the patient was ordered to be transferred to Barnes Hospital, but the actual transport, Alton Memorial's own service, didn't take place until 2:11 a.m. As a result, the patient didn't arrive at Barnes until 2:51 a.m., according to the complaint. In fact, Barnes Hospital records show that the patient arrived at 3:45 p.m., at which point the TPA was performed, the suit states.

The defendants are accused of failing to recognize that the plaintiff was having a stroke, to recognize that a TPA was needed, to listen to the stroke team's advice, to transport the patient expeditiously, to properly care for the patient in the emergency room and to communicate to the stroke team in a timely way her stroke.

As a result, the plaintiff allegedly suffered "severe and debilitating injuries causing her to incur pain and suffering, disability, loss of normal life, permanent damages, causing her to incur reasonable and necessary medical care and treatment and expenses of living that she would not have had if the negligence had not occurred."

The plaintiff seeks in excess of the $50,000 in damages, plus costs, from each defendant; her husband, alleging loss of consortium, also seeks a judgment from the court.

The plaintiff is represented by Thomas O. Falb of Williamson, Webster, Falb and Glisson in Alton.

Madison County Circuit Court case number 15-L-537.