Patient files suit against whole-body MRI provider Prenuvo claiming radiologist overlooked signs of stroke

A New Jersey man has filed suit against imaging startup Prenuvo claiming one of its radiologists missed signs of a forthcoming stroke on his elective $2,500 whole-body MRI scan. 

Attorneys filed the complaint Sept. 24 in the New York State Supreme Court, also naming William A Weiner, MD, and Nexray Medical Imaging as defendants. Sean Clifford, 37, who lived in Manhattan at the time, visited the Prenuvo location in the same borough on July 15, 2023, for an exam. Weiner, an independent contractor, interpreted the images and allegedly did not denote any potential warning signs of the patient’s medical troubles. 

Clifford later suffered a “catastrophic” stroke on March 7 while away on a business trip in Miami. Attorneys obtained copies of Clifford’s images and contend that Weiner missed signs of the impending incident including “abrupt focal 60% narrowing and irregularity of the proximal right middle cerebral artery.” That’s according to a third-party neurologist hired by the family. 

Clifford and his wife are now suing Prenuvo alleging medical malpractice and negligence, among other claims, according to the complaint.

"The interpreting radiologist hired by Prenuvo failed to document in the MRI report crucial findings which required further workup and evaluation, and unfortunately this patient then had a full-blown ischemic stroke that could have been prevented,” attorney Neal Bhushan, with Jacob Fuchsberg Law Firm in New York, told Radiology Business by email on Sept. 26. “Devastating outcome for this family and father of two small children.” 

Prenuvo said Thursday that it does not comment on pending litigation. 

Clifford allegedly had to undergo three brain surgeries in the days following the stroke, according to a Go Fund Me page established by the family. He has undergone physical and occupational therapy in Miami after the incident and required “additional surgery to put the bone flap back in place.” His wife, Leslie Clifford, gave birth to their second child in August. 

Bhushan and his client offered the Prenuvo report as Exhibit 1 in the complaint. In it, Weiner noted no evidence of proximal intracranial arterial aneurysm nor small vessel ischemia. However, the plaintiffs claim the report “failed to document crucial, life-saving medical information.” Clifford’s cerebral and cerebellar vasculature were “incorrectly described as normal,” the suit contends. And there were “worrisome areas of arterial stenosis, especially in the right middle cerebral artery,” where he later experienced an ischemic infarction. 

“This stenotic vessel could have been treated with targeted stenting or other minimally invasive measures, thereby eliminating and preventing the catastrophic stroke that plaintiff Sean Clifford suffered on March 7, 2024,” the complaint states. 

Since the incident, he has suffered left hand and leg paralysis, weakness on his left side affecting movement and motor function, impaired vision, anxiety, depression and chronic headaches, among other concerns. 

Founded in 2018, Prenuvo has raised over $70 million in funding with support from model Cindy Crawford, Nest founder Tony Fadell, 23&Me CEO Anne Wojcicki, and billionaire scientist Timothy A. Springer, PhD. It also has scored celebrity endorsements from Kim Kardashian and others and pursued expansion amid growing interest. It currently has about 17 locations with another dozen labeled as coming soon. 

Other companies such as SimonMed Imaging and Rayus Radiology also have started offering whole-body MRI services amid consumer interest. Meanwhile, the American College of Radiology has said it does not support such scans, noting that there is no documented evidence that total body screening is cost-efficient or effective at prolonging life. 

The Independent first reported news of the lawsuit on Thursday.