Missed Heart Attack
Medical Malpractice Attorneys in Pennsylvania

We often think of Heart Attacks as easy to identify — Just look for the obese or angry man clutching his heart and falling over. But this Hollywood portrayal of a serious medical condition is often not the same in the real world.   Most victims tend to experience other symptoms including neck pain, jaw pain, indigestion, fatigue, and nausea.

Because Heart Attacks can so easily be attributed to other causes based on presenting symptoms – they are high on the list of common emergency room misdiagnosis. Often being confused with pulmonary embolism, heartburn or gallbladder infection. 

Our clients’ lives have been changed by heart attacks that could have been prevented or treated if the medical provider had:

• Identified a family history and other risk factors (smoking, obesity) predisposing patients to heart attack
• Promptly administered the correct tests, such as measuring cardiac enzymes, performing blood tests, EEGs and EKGs, ordering a coronary angiography, and other tests
• Monitored patients with high risk of heart attack, by performing stress tests and other routine screening tests
• Promptly diagnosed a heart attack in the emergency room

Delays in diagnosis mean that damage to the heart muscle is much worse than it would have been had the right drugs been administered promptly or the proper medical procedure performed. Failure to prevent a heart attack by identifying risk factors or performing routine screening tests means that the patient is subject to unnecessary heart damage, pain and suffering, medical expense, and lost wages.