Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome can begin as something a doctor is trained to catch and end as brain damage that never heals. What separates those two outcomes is often a single dose of vitamin B1.
Caught early, the first phase (called Wernicke’s encephalopathy) is frequently reversible. Miss it, and it can slide into Korsakoff’s psychosis, where the memory loss and confusion usually become permanent.
That’s a short window. It’s also why these claims are so hard to bring. By the time anyone realizes a thiamine deficiency went untreated, the damage is often done, and most personal injury firms refer the case out because the medicine behind it is unfamiliar territory.
The three firms below don’t refer it out. Each one has a documented focus on thiamine-deficiency and Wernicke-Korsakoff claims, a record in complex medical malpractice and brain-injury trials, and the medical experts these cases live or die on.
How We Selected These Firms
Each firm was measured against the same things:
- A real practice in thiamine-deficiency and Wernicke-Korsakoff misdiagnosis claims, not just a page about it
- Trial experience in medical malpractice and catastrophic brain-injury cases, including failure-to-diagnose claims
- Board certification in trial law, where the attorney holds it, with the issuing body named
- Peer recognition from outside sources rather than self-applied labels
- Contingency representation and a willingness to take cases nationwide
All three handle Wernicke-Korsakoff cases across the country. Where a firm publishes a representative result, it’s listed with the reminder that past results don’t guarantee future outcomes.
The Three Firms
Kathryn Snapka: The Snapka Law Firm, Injury & Malpractice Lawyers
The Snapka Law Firm has built one of the deepest Wernicke-Korsakoff misdiagnosis practices in the country, and it has the verdict to back it up. The firm has practiced for more than 30 years and represents Wernicke’s clients nationwide.
Founder Kathryn Snapka is board certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and in Civil Trial Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. She’s also a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has made the Texas Super Lawyers list every year since 2003. Partner Greg Turman is board certified in Personal Injury Trial Law as well.
The firm keeps its caseload small on purpose, so an attorney handles each matter personally rather than passing it down to staff. To prove how a thiamine deficiency got missed, the team leans on an established network of medical experts. It won a $14.29 million jury verdict in a Wernicke’s encephalopathy case involving a patient who developed the syndrome after prolonged vomiting following bariatric surgery, with no thiamine given, a result the firm reports as one of the largest of its kind. Past results don’t guarantee future outcomes.
Practice areas: Medical Malpractice (Wernicke-Korsakoff, misdiagnosis, surgical errors, birth injuries), Product Liability, Serious Injury, Wrongful Death.
Tommy Hastings: Hastings Law Firm Medical Malpractice Lawyers
Hastings Law Firm has done one thing since 2005: medical malpractice and healthcare-injury cases, thiamine-deficiency and Wernicke-Korsakoff claims among them. It takes catastrophic cases nationwide.
Founder Tommy Hastings is board certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He’s been a Texas Super Lawyer since 2013, joined the American Board of Trial Advocates in 2025, and was Course Director of the State Bar of Texas 2024 Medical Torts Seminar.
Here’s something most firms can’t say. Hastings keeps in-house nurse consultants, nurse paralegals, and board-certified patient advocates on staff, and its senior counsel includes attorneys who used to defend hospitals and physicians. So the people reading your records have stood on both sides of a malpractice case. The firm’s published thiamine-deficiency resource walks through how missed Wernicke’s diagnoses happen and confirms its attorneys handle these claims. It reached a $19.75 million settlement for a teenager left with catastrophic brain injury after an undiagnosed cardiac condition went untreated. Past results don’t guarantee future outcomes.
Practice areas: Surgical Error, Birth Injury, Doctor Malpractice, Medical Misdiagnosis, Hospital Malpractice, Failure to Diagnose, Dangerous Drugs, Nurse Malpractice, Medical Products, Nursing Home Abuse.
Jennifer L. Lawrence: Lawrence, Beirne & Lewis
Few plaintiff firms have published as much on Wernicke-Korsakoff as Lawrence, Beirne & Lewis, which limits its work to catastrophic injury. The firm represents clients nationwide in complex medical-malpractice and medical-device litigation and has more than 50 years behind it.
Jennifer L. Lawrence is rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell and recognized by Best Lawyers in America for plaintiff-side medical malpractice. She was named a 2025 Lawyer of the Year in that field and serves as Co-Chair of the American Association for Justice Medical Negligence Litigation Group.
Nurses on staff review each case alongside the attorneys, and the firm’s partners hold national litigation leadership in both medical negligence and birth trauma. That mix helps the team piece together how a thiamine deficiency, or another missed diagnosis, turned into permanent harm. The firm won a $30.95 million jury verdict for a child left with permanent brain injury when a cesarean section wasn’t performed in time. Past results don’t guarantee future outcomes.
Practice areas: Medical Malpractice, Birth Injuries, Wrongful Death, Dangerous & Defective Products, Mass Tort Litigation, Personal Injury.
What is Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome?
It’s a brain disorder caused by a shortage of vitamin B1, also called thiamine. The condition runs in two stages. Wernicke’s encephalopathy comes first and can often be reversed if it’s treated fast. Korsakoff’s psychosis is the later stage, and its memory loss is usually there to stay.
Doctors are taught to watch for three warning signs together: confusion, loss of muscle coordination, and abnormal eye movements. The standard response is to treat it as an emergency and give thiamine, often through an IV.
A lot of people assume this only happens to those with alcohol use disorder. It doesn’t. According to the National Institutes of Health, it also follows pregnancy-related vomiting, bariatric or gastrointestinal surgery, cancer, anorexia, and dialysis. That assumption is part of why the diagnosis slips through.
When a Wernicke-Korsakoff Case Becomes Medical Malpractice
Picture a patient who’s been throwing up for days after weight-loss surgery, or someone hospitalized for weeks without proper nutrition. These are the situations where the standard of care calls for watching thiamine levels closely, because the risk is known.
A claim usually comes down to one specific lapse. Common ones include failing to test for or give thiamine, giving glucose before thiamine to a patient who’s already deficient, missing the diagnosis in a vomiting post-surgical or pregnant patient, and waiting to treat until the harm is permanent.
Not every bad outcome is malpractice. The legal question is whether the care fell below the accepted standard, and whether that failure is what caused the injury. Sorting that out takes the full medical record, an expert review, and a firm that has handled these cases before.
How to Choose a Wernicke-Korsakoff Lawyer
Use the same yardstick this list does. Ask whether the firm has actually tried thiamine-deficiency or brain-injury cases, not just listed them on a website. Confirm any board certification and which body issued it. Ask which medical experts the firm works with, and whether it will travel to take your case.
And ask about fees. Most reputable firms in this area work on contingency, which means no fee unless they recover something for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome always caused by alcohol?
No. It comes from thiamine deficiency, which can follow bariatric surgery, severe pregnancy-related vomiting, cancer, eating disorders, dialysis, and other conditions.
Can you sue for a missed Wernicke’s diagnosis?
Sometimes. If a provider should have recognized or treated a thiamine deficiency and didn’t, and permanent harm resulted, that may support a medical malpractice claim.
How long do you have to file?
The deadline, called the statute of limitations, depends on your state and can be short. Talk to a lawyer quickly so you don’t lose the claim.
What is the average settlement?
There isn’t a reliable average. It depends on how severe the brain injury is, how strong the evidence is, and the specific facts. Anyone who quotes you a number sight unseen is guessing.
Do these lawyers charge upfront?
Usually no. Medical malpractice firms generally work on contingency, so the fee comes out of a recovery instead of your pocket.
