When Doctors Are Liable for Your Heart Attack from Underlying Health Conditions

Let’s be honest. None of us enjoy going to the doctor’s office, even for routine checkups. But we all understand their importance. Prevention is the best precaution against any disease. There are so many medical conditions that can be prevented because of early detection.

That’s why a doctor’s diagnosis holds so much power. Can you imagine suffering from a heart attack that could have been prevented if your doctor had offered an accurate diagnosis? As scary as that situation is, it happens more often than you think. When doctors fail to properly diagnose your medical history or detect an underlying medical condition, it can cause you to experience a heart attack. Here’s why.

Underlying health conditions that lead to heart attacks

When people think of underlying conditions for heart attacks, they think of risk factors like smoking and obesity. But other underlying health conditions can potentially lead to the risk of a heart attack as well.

Per the Mayo Clinic, some of these conditions include diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and stress. Autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus can also increase the risk of a heart attack. Detecting these risk factors is extremely important, especially if your family has a history of these conditions.

That is why it’s important for your medical history and your diagnoses to be as accurate as possible. Your medical history can reveal crucial information about any genetic medical conditions. You can determine whether heart attacks are prevalent in your family through your medical history. Your medical history also lists your past and current medications for your doctor to reference.

How misdiagnoses can harm you

A misdiagnosis happens when a healthcare professional fails to provide an accurate diagnosis for their patient. If you discover that you suffer from rheumatoid arthritis and were not properly diagnosed for it, for example, that’s an example of a misdiagnosis.

One of the scariest positions to be in is dealing with a serious health condition of which you were previously unaware. The longer your condition goes undetected, the more harm you can experience. You can experience a heart attack because of an underlying health condition that should have been detected by your doctor.

Reasons for misdiagnosis

There are many reasons why doctors fail to properly diagnose underlying conditions in patients. One of the reasons is failing to test properly for specific conditions. Not all medical conditions are easy to detect, and some may even share the same symptoms.

Doctors can mistake one condition for another by relying on the results of one test. When it comes to heart disease specifically, there are several tests physicians should conduct.

 

Doctors who choose not to take these additional precautions put their patients’ health at risk. A patient can suffer a heart attack triggered by an underlying condition that they didn’t know about. Another reason is saving time. Doctors may feel pressed for time and want to resolve their patients’ issues as soon as possible.

Misdiagnosis is a type of medical malpractice

Medical malpractice is the act of negligence committed by medical workers, who fail to provide a specific level of care to their patients. When this level of care deviates from the professional care of the industry, you may be able to file a medical malpractice claim.

In a medical malpractice claim, the healthcare professional’s actions will be evaluated through a standard known as negligence. If the doctor’s actions qualify under negligence, they will be held liable for your injuries.

As a victim of medical malpractice, you have the right to hold your doctor liable for your injuries. The doctor’s unprofessional actions could have contributed to your heart attack. Heart attacks are serious and potentially fatal medical incidents. If you or a loved one have suffered from a heart attack that could potentially be tied back to an underlying condition, you may be able to sue your doctor for medical malpractice. But your doctor isn’t the only one that could have acted negligently. Nurses and lab technicians may also be held liable for your injuries.

Lab technicians often play a pivotal role in test results. If technicians don’t properly handle the tests or evidence, it can affect the results. Even if the results of your test were incorrect, a healthcare professional should have been able to detect the mistake and acted accordingly.

Proving medical malpractice has taken place

Even though medical malpractice claims are common, few of them are successful. This is because medical malpractice is one of the hardest acts of negligence to prove. Because the medical industry involves specific knowledge, it can be hard for jurors to determine whether the doctor’s actions were justified or not.

For you to effectively prove medical malpractice, you will want an experienced lawyer on your side.

Our Memphis medical malpractice lawyers are familiar with the industry and the medical terminology involved. They also know how to prove a medical worker’s negligence with the help of another professional.

To find out whether you have a medical malpractice claim, speak to the lawyers at Bailey & Greer, PLLC. We are small enough to care, big enough to fight, and experienced enough to win. We represent injured clients in Memphis, Jackson, and West Tennessee. Contact us or call our office to schedule a free case evaluation.