Georgia Medical Malpractice: Failure To Diagnose Heart Attacks

A heart attack can change your life in an instant. If that heart attack is misdiagnosed or goes unnoticed by medical professionals, the results can be catastrophic. Our medical malpractice lawyers at Hilley & Frieder, P.C., represent clients throughout the greater Atlanta area in a broad range of medical malpractice claims, including misdiagnosed heart attacks. Our lawyers work hard to hold medical professionals and health care facilities responsible for negligent behavior and help you pursue the maximum level of compensation available for your case.

Heart Attack Signs And Symptoms

If a patient is complaining of a combination of symptoms that includes chest pain, nausea, and shortness of breath, these are telltale symptoms of a heart attack in progress. Any doctor should be able to recognize these signs and take immediate and necessary steps to get a heart attack under control:

• Chest discomfort or pain: This is often described as a feeling of pressure, tightness, fullness or squeezing in the center of the chest. It may last for a few minutes or come and go.
• Pain or discomfort in other areas of the upper body: This can include discomfort or pain in one or both of a patient’s arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach. This is particularly true for women.
• Shortness of breath: Patients having heart attacks may experience difficulty breathing or a feeling of being unable to catch their breath.
• Cold sweats: Profuse sweating, often accompanied by clammy skin, is another indicator of a heart attack.
• Nausea or vomiting: Some people, particularly women, may feel nauseated or vomit during a heart attack.
• Light-headedness or fainting: Heart attack victims may feel dizzy or lightheaded. In some cases, they may faint.

Medical providers often fail to consider the whole picture when they encounter a patient who is having a heart attack, especially if the patient does not fit the provider’s mental image of what a heart attack victim looks like. The above symptoms are often misdiagnosed as respiratory conditions, gastrointestinal problems, muscle strain or even panic attacks.

Compensation For Heart Attack Misdiagnosis Or Delayed Diagnosis

Rapid treatment is the key to a successful recovery after a heart attack. A misdiagnosis or a delayed diagnosis can leave you with astronomical medical bills and unable to work. While every claim is different, the value of your claim will take into account:

• The medical bills related to your missed or delayed diagnosis
• The extent of the physical harm you suffered as a result
• Whether you are able to return to work, and to what degree
• Whether you continue to experience related medical issues
• How your enjoyment of life and relationships have been affected

The extent of your pain and suffering, much of which could likely have been prevented, will also affect the value of your claim. Our attorneys will help you better understand the value of your claim once the specifics are known.

If the doctor fails to interpret the symptoms correctly, the results can be catastrophic. At a minimum, the patient can be left with severe damage to their heart. The more likely possibility, however, is the death of the patient. If you have suffered or a loved one has died because of a negligent doctor’s misdiagnosis of a heart attack, our personal injury lawyers can help you pursue a claim for medical malpractice or even a wrongful death lawsuit.

Frequently Asked Questions About Heart Attack Misdiagnoses In Georgia

Someone in the United States has a heart attack approximately every 40 seconds – and roughly 605,000 people will have their first heart attack this year. Here are the questions our attorneys hear most often:

What does it mean when a heart attack is misdiagnosed?

A misdiagnosis is when a medical professional, usually a doctor, fails to recognize the symptoms of a heart attack in their patient, does not order the appropriate tests and/or misattributes the patient’s symptoms to another disorder or disease. It is estimated that 80% of heart attacks are never diagnosed at all, and thousands are misattributed to other conditions.

What are common symptoms of a heart attack that can be missed or attributed to another condition?

Women and young people frequently present with “atypical” heart attack symptoms, such as unusual fatigue, pain in both arms or the back, dizziness and vomiting. These symptoms are frequently dismissed as anxiety, acute panic attacks, musculoskeletal problems or indigestion, instead of a life-threatening emergency.

How can a heart attack be missed or misdiagnosed?

Essentially, most missed diagnoses or misdiagnoses come from human error and (largely unintentional) biases on the part of doctors. Often, when they assess patients, they only look for “stereotypical” symptoms and ignore others to the patient’s detriment. This explains why women and minorities are disproportionally affected by heart attack misdiagnoses. This is generally attributed to systemic biases in the health care system, including the fact that most studies and training regarding heart attacks center solely around the symptoms experienced by white men.

What are the consequences of a misdiagnosed heart attack?

The most obvious concern, of course, is that the patient could die without the prompt medical attention they need. Even if the patient survives, however, they may suffer permanent scarring to their heart. Oxygen deprivation from the heart attack may also lead to brain damage. At a minimum, the patient may lose their best chance of making a full recovery and experience readmissions and lengthy healing times.

Our Team Understands How Heart Attacks Change Lives

Survivors and surviving dependent family members have the right to seek damages against the negligent parties, including the lost income that their loved one would have provided, lost companionship and guidance, medical and funeral expenses and others. Our attorneys will work diligently to see that you receive fair compensation for the loss you have suffered.

Schedule Your Free Consultation

Our attorneys at Hilley & Frieder offer free consultations and case evaluations. To schedule a no-obligation initial consultation with one of them in Atlanta, please contact us today through our website or by calling 404-795-6099.