When a doctor misdiagnoses a heart attack, it is much more likely that the patient will pass away. For instance, the doctor may think that the patient is just experiencing stress or anxiety and send them home to rest and relax. While at home, the patient dies from that heart attack because they never actually got any treatment for their medical condition.
Concerningly, researchers have found that this happens much more often to women than it does to men. Doctors are more likely to make mistakes when they have female heart attack patients. Why is this?
A wide range of symptoms
The issue is that women tend to have a “wide array” of heart attack symptoms. These often include things like jaw pain, nausea, indigestion, dizziness, neck pain and more.
Men, on the other hand, often have four classic symptoms: Chest pain, arm pain, excessive sweating and shortness of breath.
Doctors are encouraged to think outside of the box when they have female patients. If a doctor is just considering chest pain, a woman who is legitimately having a heart attack may never mention it at all. Instead, she may say that she’s having trouble taking a deep breath and feels constantly dizzy. The doctor may think that it’s a respiratory issue or perhaps an anxiety attack. But the woman is actually having a heart attack – just without the cliché chest pain that a man would have.
Have you lost a loved one?
A misdiagnosis can have fatal ramifications. If you’ve lost a loved one and you believe it was due to medical malpractice, carefully consider the legal steps you can take.