A Butler man claims in a lawsuit that a Butler Memorial Hospital emergency department doctor misdiagnosed his stroke-like symptoms and he suffered a stoke five days later.

Gary Lauster, who was 63 when he was seen in the emergency room and then suffered a stroke in September 2022, last week filed a suit claiming negligence against the hospital and Dr. Robert Benkendorf, who no longer works at the hospital.

According to the suit, Lauster was driven to the hospital on Sept. 24 and he told medical staff he felt numbness and paralysis in his left arm, his left hand grip was weak and his left hand fingers were cold.

He had been diagnosed with COVID-19 the previous day and was not permitted to be accompanied by family members during his examination due to the hospital’s COVID restrictions, according to the suit.

During his admission, Lauster was noted to have had a history of a stroke, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease and a prior lower aortic bypass, according to the suit.

Benkendorf noted Lauster’s left hand was cold, but did not conduct a stroke evaluation or review his motor or sensory capabilities even though he complained about stroke-like symptoms, according to the suit.

Instead, he ordered an arterial Doppler scan, which showed an arterial clot in Lauster’s neck, and a CT scan showed three old cerebral infarcts in his brain. Those findings should have indicated to Benkendorf that Lauster was at a high risk of a stroke, according to the suit.

A CT angiogram of Lauster’s head found no vascular abnormalities even though a clot in his neck had been noted, according to the suit.

Benkendorf diagnosed Lauster with having radial nerve palsy and discharged him from the hospital, but an MRI is preferred over a CT scan for early detection of a stroke because MRIs can detect small infarctions that CT scans can miss, according to the suit.

On Sept. 29, Lauster’s aunt found him on the basement floor, and he was not able to get up or walk. He was taken back to the hospital’s emergency room and diagnosed with an acute/subacute ischemic stroke, according to the suit.

He was admitted to the telemetry unit for treatment of the stroke, which left him unable to walk or use the left side of his body, according to the suit. He was discharged Oct. 4 to a skilled nursing facility, where he stayed for three weeks.

The suit includes negligence claims against Benkendorf and the hospital, and it seeks unspecified damages and a jury trial. The hospital declined to comment on the suit, and Benkendorf could not be reached for comment. An emergency room employee said Benkendorf no longer works at the hospital.