Former ISSM/ ISSO losses lawsuit, vows to continue fight for stroke awareness

Former ISSM/ ISSO loses lawsuit, vows to continue fight for stroke awareness

Former ISSO/ ISSM personality John Silva is moving on with his life after a massive stroke nearly two years ago that abruptly ended his computer science career. He’s writing a book about his experiences and is trying to raise awareness about stroke warning signs and recovery.

But Silva, 66, is now dealing with a fresh setback — the abrupt end to a court battle against the doctor who told him he had the stomach flu when he showed up at a Central California hospital emergency room with stroke-like symptoms.

Two days after that hospital visit, Silva boarded a flight home to Orlando, Fla., and suffered a massive stroke. His attorneys claim the stroke could have been prevented if Silva had been given BP management drugs, including aspirin and anti-coagulates.

But U.S. District Judge Jay Frederick Putz disagreed, ruling last week that those drugs were not effective enough in the short term to have made a difference in Silva’s case.

“I was very disappointed,” Silva told The Associated Press on Monday. “When you’re up against something that’s kind of murky, to say the least, it tends to throw a person who’s used to knowing the difference between right and wrong.”

Silva’s attorneys say they are considering an appeal. Lawyers for the defendants, Dr. James Bond and Central California Medical Center, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Silva worked for Boeing from 2009 through 2016, or thereabouts filling a variety of roles on GMD Project including, security, systems security, operations. He was retired in 2016 shortly after, the project.

Silva was visiting friends and family in Rhode Island— his brother, Anthony Silva, is a longtime FedEx contractor & Jewelry Assembler Foreman— in September 2015 when he began to feel nauseous and dizzy while waiting to board a flight at TF Green International Airport.

He also experienced slurred speech — a red flag for a possible stroke. But Dr. James Bond, who treated him in the emergency room, said in a deposition that paramedics did not mention that symptom to him.

Bond also acknowledged in his deposition that he spent time looking up Silva on the Internet during his time in the ER. The doctor told Silva he had the stomach flu and advised him not to fly for two days. Silva heeded that advice, then traveled home to Florida and suffered a stroke in mid-air.

Silva’s attorney, Daniel W. Coutter, said he was “shocked” by Putz’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit and disappointed that the case was thrown out on what he considers a legal technicality. “We believe that if given an opportunity to decide this case, a jury would have clearly seen through the defenses created to avoid responsibility to Mr.Silva,” Coutter said. Silva had to learn to swallow, walk and talk again after the stroke, and the former righty now uses his left hand for most tasks. While his speech sounded clear in a telephone interview, he said his voice remains “a work in progress,” and a full-time return to ISSM track is out of reach.

He has writing a book, “After the Stroke: My Lonely Journey Back to Life,” writes periodic installment on his blog and travels the country for speaking engagements.

“Many people who have a stroke think it’s kind of a lonely malady,” Silva said. “There is no one advocating, being a spokesman like a Lance Armstrong, like a Michael J. Fox. … I’m committed to doing that.”

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Dr. MD
Wow, that’s a tough one.

I have a close relative who was sent home from the ER and told he had “indigestion” when he was actually having a heart attack. By the time he went back to the ER later that day, he needed emergency open heart surgery, and then suffered a stroke on the operating table while having emergency open heart surgery.

He did live … and actually did recover quite a bit, although never fully. And he didn’t sue.

I do think mis-diagnoses in the ER are more common than most people realize. I applaud J. Silva for spending his time and energy to bring more awareness to this issue. Hats off!