Heart Attack

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One in four deaths in the United States is attributed to heart disease. Sometimes individuals have heart attacks after a doctor failed to diagnose their conditions or after they took a dangerous drug.

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February 03, 2021

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According to the CDC, chest pains are the most common reason people over the age of 15 visit the emergency room each year. Unfortunately, many chest pain patients each year are sent home without the proper testing, diagnosis, and treatment for their condition. Failure or misdiagnosis of a heart attack or aneurysm can turn into a life or death situation for the patient.

What is a Heart Attack?

A heart attack, or a myocardial infarction, occurs when the blood that supplies part of the heart muscle is stopped or severely reduced. This happens when one or more of the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle is blocked.

Coronary arteries can become blocked due to cholesterol deposits and other fat-like substances building up along the inner lining of blood vessels and becoming coated in scar tissue, creating thickening in the blood vessel wall otherwise known as plaque. This can narrow the inside of an artery until it is no longer able to supply oxygen-rich blood to the heart, causing cramping of the muscle to occur. This muscle cramping is called ischemia, and prolonged ischemia can cause necrosis, or the death of cardiac cells to occur, which can disable or kill a patient depending on how much of the heart muscle is affected.

What Are the Symptoms of a Heart Attack?

While most heart attacks start slowly with only minor pain and discomfort, some heart attacks can be intense and sudden. According to Cedars Sinai, 1 in 3 people who have heart attacks do not experience pain at all, making them much easier to misdiagnose. Signs that indicate you may be experiencing a heart attack include:

Discomfort in the chest, abdomen, back, neck, arm, wrist or jaw during exertion or at rest
Pain or discomfort that may start in the middle or left chest and radiate to the arm, back, shoulder, or jaw
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Weakness, dizziness, or lightheadedness
Nausea or vomitting
Sweating
Excessive anxiety

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Heart Attacks and Medical Malpractice

In an emergency room, it is not uncommon for a heart attack to be misdiagnosed as indigestion, heartburn, GERD, a muscle strain, or another ailment. When this happens and a patient experiencing a heart attack is sent home without the necessary and life-saving treatment, this may be considered medical malpractice. When a patient comes in with chest pain, all diagnostic tools available should be used before discharging a patient. Ways in which medical professionals may overlook a heart attack may include:

Failing to diagnose a heart attack due to not ordering the appropriate tests to determine whether or not a patient is having a heart attack
Nurses and doctors failing to analyze a patient’s medical history
Healthcare providers misreading test results including EKGs
Emergency room doctors failing to contact cardiac specialists in a timely manner
Failure to consider heart attacks in women and younger patients.

Heart Attacks and Dangerous Drugs

When you are dealing with pain or other medical ailments, you want safe and effective treatment that does not cause more problems down the road. Some prescription and OTC drugs may increase the likelihood that the patient will experience heart problems. If you have experienced heart problems as a result of a dangerous drug, you may be able to file a product liability claim in order to recover compensation for your injuries.

In 2004, a pain medication called Vioxx was taken off the market after 27,000 lawsuits were filed alleging the drug caused heart attacks and strokes. Even with news of Vioxx’s negative side effects, over 20 million Americans had used the drug.

Actos, a drug prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes, also has been shown to increase the chances of serious and sometimes fatal heart problems including heart attacks and congestive heart failure. Many patients who are prescribed Actos may not be adequately informed of the risks associated with taking it.

These are just two examples of drugs that have been shown to cause heart problems and heart attacks, but there are many more. If you suffered from a heart attack and feel it was due to a dangerous drug, contact MedFault’s team of experts to set up a consultation.

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