Cleveland Failure To Diagnose Heart Disease Lawyers

In short, yes. Doctors and other health care providers can be held legally responsible for failing to diagnose conditions of the heart and financially liable for the resulting damages victims suffer. This includes failures to diagnose a STEMI heart attack (ST-elevation myocardial infarction), which is a complete blockage of the coronary artery, or a NSTEMI heart attack (non ST-elevation myocardial infarction), which is a partial coronary artery blockage.

Though victims have the right to file civil medical malpractice claims over preventable errors and injuries, these are complex cases that require a meticulous review of the unique facts involved. They also require victims to prove medical providers failed to meet their duty of care. Generally, this means:

Whether treatment received by you or your loved one constitutes malpractice depends on the circumstances. In medical malpractice cases, and failure to diagnose claims in particular, it is alleged that providers failed to meet the applicable standard of care for the situation.

This “standard of care” or “duty of care” can differ from case to case, but may involve providers who:

• Overlook heart disease or cardiovascular conditions in patients who don’t fit the typical heart-disease victim profile (i.e. younger patients, patients with no history of heart-related problems, etc.), or who overlook heart disease in patients with known risk factors (i.e. family history of heart disease, obesity, smoking, diabetes, etc.);
• Fail to recognize or appreciate warning signs or symptoms associated with heart disease, heart attack, or other serious cardiac conditions, and respond accordingly;
• Fail to order or perform appropriate testing or properly interpret test results, including tests such as ECG / EKG, echocardiogram / ultrasound, cardiac catheterization, chest X-rays, MRIs, and blood / lab tests;
• Fail to perform an adequate medical history, evaluation, or initial screening of the patient;
• Fail to adequately document risk factors, patient complaints, findings, or potential issues in medical notes;
• Fail to properly communicate a patient’s condition or potential risk factors to other providers involved in their care (i.e. errors when referring patients to specialists, or administrative and medical record errors in patient hand-offs);
• Misdiagnose heart disease or heart attacks as less serious medical conditions or fail to properly perform a differential diagnosis to rule out other conditions (i.e. ulcers, indigestion or acid reflux, gallstones, or panic attacks).

The parties who may be named as defendants in a failure to diagnose case will vary. As patients are often treated by a number of providers, there may also be multiple potentially liable parties.

Examples of liable parties in malpractice claims involving heart disease, heart attack, or other cardiovascular conditions include:

• Emergency Departments (ER malpractice) or hospitals;
• Triage nurses, physician assistants, or nurse practitioners;
• Internists or hospitalists;
• Cardiologists, including consulting cardiologists / specialists;
• General practitioners or family doctors; and
• Lab technicians / diagnostic professionals.

Victims of medical negligence have the right to recover financial compensation for resulting economic and non-economic damages. This can include:

• Physical pain and suffering;
• Medical bills and future medical expenses;
• Emotional injuries, including mental anguish;
• Lost income and lost future earnings; and
• Emotional suffering endured by a victim’s family.

Our attorneys work closely with experts to calculate damages and help clients assess the potential value of their cases, focusing on both their economic losses (including any expected future expenses) and the emotional suffering that accompanies life-changing injuries or wrongful death.