Heart Conditions Missed By Health Care Providers

Signs of heart distress or attack are not always glaring and obvious.  Often times the signs are slight, like small discomfort and or mild pain.  Sometimes, the signs are similar to having a cold, such as tiredness, vomiting, and or nausea.  In short, it is not easy for laypeople to know if they are having or have had a mild heart attack.  The signs of an impending heart event are likewise hard for the average person to recognize.

Keep a Medical Routine

This is why people should schedule regular checkups with doctors.  During these routine exams, patients should completely tell the doctor about their health and how they have been feeling.  The patient should include everything, even that which may seem insignificant.

While trained and competent medical professionals should be adept at taking patient histories and diagnosing signs of past, present, and or future heart distress, other medical professionals may not be so adept.  In fact, the experience of highly skilled medical malpractice attorneys practicing law in the Hudson Valley regions of New York know that some medical professionals have negligently missed the signs of a patient’s heart distress.

What Can Heart Attacks be Confused With?

Heart attacks have been misdiagnosed as muscle strain, heartburn, anxiety, panic attacks, and even indigestion.  When this happens, the patient is sent home and their heart is nothing short of being a ticking time bomb.  Whether the patient in fact had a mild heart attack, arrhythmia, or myocardial infarction, their illness should have been properly diagnosed.

If a medical professional failed to properly examine the patient and to get a proper patient medical history and family history, signs of impending heart attack can be missed.  As you know, often time’s heart disease is genetic.  Alcohol use and drug use can lead to heart disease.  So too can smoking.  If the medical professional never inquired into these issues, a case of medical malpractice can be had.  In fact, if a medical professional failed to discover that which should have been discovered, the doctor can be sued for medical malpractice if the mistreated patient thereafter suffers a heart attack.

Does a Heart Attack Always Come with Chest Pain?

Readers should be aware that sometimes heart distress is not accompanied by chest pain.  It could be something like shortness of breath, excessive sweating, fatigue, pain in the back and shoulders, and even jaw discomfort.  Stomach pain is another sign of heart problems.  Doctor’s should inquire into these things when examining patients.  Nurses and other medical professionals are not exempt.

The bottom line is medical professionals must not misdiagnose or fail to diagnose a patient’s medical conditions when those diagnoses should could have been made had the medical professional simply practiced medicine in accordance with the standards of the medical profession.

Let Me Know Your Thoughts

But what do you think?  I would love to hear from you!  Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call or email message.  You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website.