When a doctor misdiagnoses a heart attack, the patient may pass away. For instance, say that someone rushes to the emergency room because they believe they’re having a heart attack. The doctor sees them and says that they’re just dealing with indigestion and anxiety. They should be fine if they relax and get some rest. But if the patient does that, they could go home and pass away from the heart attack.
With this in mind, it is important to know that doctors make this mistake – misdiagnosing a heart attack as something else – more often when they are seeing female patients. Of course, doctors can misdiagnose a man who is having a heart attack, and this does happen. But the stats show that it’s more likely for women, increasing their risks of medical malpractice. Why does this happen?
The symptoms may be different
The problem is that many doctors are looking for common symptoms of heart attacks. These include things like crushing chest pain, pain radiating down the arm, sweating or difficulty breathing. If a man comes to the emergency room and talks about these symptoms, the doctor will probably know that it’s a heart attack very quickly.
However, women who are actively having heart attacks sometimes present very different symptoms. They may be more likely to have back, neck or jaw pain. They may feel dizzy, lightheaded and fatigued. But they don’t always mention the same sort of crushing chest pain, causing doctors to settle on a different diagnosis – especially if those doctors are men themselves or are more used to treating male patients.
Have you or a loved one suffered harm due to a doctor’s error? If so, you may be able to seek compensation.
