One of the most commonly misdiagnosed conditions is a heart attack, which is hardly a comfort to those who may be experiencing one.
Heart attacks are as individual as the person experiencing them. No two people have the same symptoms, and in fact they may not have the classic signs that one is occurring. Take the case of a woman who went to the ER because her chest felt tight. The doctor ran many tests but could find anything wrong. He advised her to start taking aspirin and handed her a prescription for anxiety medication. Three days later she died of a heart attack. What happened to cause her untimely death?
The heart attack was misdiagnosed, something that happens far more frequently than we even know. In fact, just about two percent of all cardiac events are misdiagnosed. That number, which was derived from a study done by the New England Journal of Medicine, may not seem that bad. However, two percent adds up to 1.2 million people dying every year as the result of a heart attack.
It is no secret that heart attacks, coronary heart disease or coronary artery disease is caused by blood being blocked from getting to the heart. Once that happens, the main event is typically a heart attack, heart failure or cardiac arrest.
Many of the symptoms include, but are not limited to:
– Nausea
– Shortness of breath
– Chest pain
– Discomfort in the chest, either mild or severe
– Discomfort in the stomach, neck, jaw, back or arms
As you may have noticed, many of these symptoms could also signal something like the flu or pneumonia. More often than not, the patient knows something is wrong and insists something is wrong, only to have a doctor rely more on tests than how the patient feels.
Tests doctors run when they suspect a cardiac event include:
– Chest x-rays
– Stress tests
– Cardiac markers
– Blood tests
– ECGs
– CT scans
– Heart catheterization
Misdiagnosis may happen by misreading results from these and other tests. If the doctor does not take any action, or does not order the right test, this too may end in a misdiagnosis along with the wait and see attitude that often comes with uncertainty about test results.
To put it bluntly, if a possible heart attack victim does not get the appropriate drugs right away or have emergency surgical intervention, he or she may not live to see another day. Frankly, most people would not want to be a doctor faced with trying to determine if a patient was having a heart attack or not. It is a tough job, but those that are in the medical field must be accountable for any errors they make.
Have you been in a similar situation? Did you have a heart attack that was diagnosed as something else? Make a call to an experienced Cleveland medical malpractice lawyer. Find out what your legal rights are, and what constitutes medical negligence.
Christopher Mellino is a Cleveland Malpractice Lawyer specializing in Cleveland Medical Malpractice cases in Ohio. To learn more, visit Christophermellino.com.
