Tammy Carnley and her husband filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against St. Francis – Emory Healthcare, teleradiology providers, and individual physicians, claiming a misread computed tomography scan caused catastrophic delays in acute stroke treatment and left her permanently disabled.
The lawsuit, filed in the Superior Court of Muscogee County, Georgia, by the Atlanta-based Bell Law Firm, centers on events beginning on October 7, 2024. According to radiologybusiness.com, Tammy Carnley, then 47 and employed by the Muscogee County School District, was found unresponsive at home with right-sided weakness, facial droop, global aphasia, and a gait preference.
In Plain English: The Clinical Takeaway
- Large Vessel Occlusion: A blockage in one of the brain’s major arteries that cuts off blood supply to large regions of brain tissue, requiring rapid intervention like mechanical thrombectomy.
- Mechanical Thrombectomy: A minimally invasive surgical procedure where a specialist threads a catheter through an artery to physically remove the blood clot from the brain.
- ASPECTS Stroke Score: A 10-point scoring system used on brain scans to measure the extent of early ischemic damage; lower scores indicate more extensive and irreversible tissue death.
Emergency Arrival and Initial Evaluation
Her husband called 911, and emergency responders transported her to St. Francis Hospital in Columbus, Georgia. She arrived via ambulance at approximately 6:36 a.m., presenting with what plaintiff attorneys describe as classic signs of a large vessel acute ischemic stroke.
Emergency physician James E. Ragan, MD, examined the patient upon arrival. However, the complaint alleges that Dr. Ragan did not immediately order urgent computed tomography angiography imaging or initiate a transfer to a comprehensive stroke center.
Nursing staff monitored the patient while she remained in the emergency department. A noncontrast computed tomography scan of her head was performed just before 8 a.m.
Radiology Interpretation and Subsequent Findings
Radiologist Dennis M. Burton, MD, working for teleradiology firm Direct Radiology, interpreted the scans as normal at 8:15 a.m., recording no signs of a stroke. Plaintiff attorneys argue that the images actually demonstrated early ischemic changes pointing to a large, left-middle cerebral artery-territory infarct.
The complaint asserts that a normal or reportedly normal noncontrast head scan does not rule out an acute ischemic stroke. It alleges that nursing staff failed to activate a stroke alert or escalate care following the initial reading.
Neurology was not consulted until approximately 12:30 p.m., nearly six hours after the emergency physician’s initial evaluation. Neurologist Mohammed Hussein, MD, subsequently recommended transferring the patient for a mechanical thrombectomy.
Delayed Transfer and Emergency Surgery
Computed tomography angiography was performed at around 1 p.m., confirming a large vessel occlusion. The patient was transferred to Piedmont Columbus Regional Midtown Hospital at approximately 2:22 p.m., nearly eight hours after arriving at the first hospital.
Repeat imaging at Piedmont revealed that her ASPECTS stroke score had dropped from 6-7 down to 1 out of 10, signaling near-complete infarction of the left middle cerebral artery territory. By that point, physicians determined she was no longer a candidate for mechanical thrombectomy.
She developed malignant cerebral edema, requiring an emergency decompressive left hemicraniectomy on October 8, 2024. She subsequently underwent a tracheostomy on October 17 and the placement of a percutaneous gastrostomy tube on October 18 before her discharge to inpatient rehabilitation on October 25.
Conditions That Prevent Mechanical Thrombectomy
Mechanical thrombectomy carries strict time windows and contraindications, including extensive established infarcts shown on baseline neuroimaging, active internal bleeding, or severe uncontrolled hypertension. A normal initial noncontrast head computed tomography scan does not exclude acute ischemia; persistent clinical suspicion demands immediate vascular imaging and neurological consultation.
Legal Claims and Defendants Named in the Action
The lawsuit names St. Francis Emory Healthcare, Dr. Ragan, Dr. Burton, Direct Radiology, and Vesta Telemedicine as defendants. Plaintiff attorney Lloyd Bell stated that the delays deprived the patient of the opportunity to preserve brain function.
Direct Radiology was later acquired by OnRad in 2025. St. Francis and Direct Radiology did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while Vesta Telemedicine stated that it does not comment on pending litigation.
On November 21, 2024, a month and a half after the initial scan, radiologist Philip McDonald, MD, issued an addendum re-read identifying a large, ill-marginated hypodensity in the cortical-subcortical aspects of the left frontal lobes.
