Heart Attacks Go Undiagnosed and Misdiagnosed by Iowa Medical Professionals

When you hear the term heart attack mentioned, you may visualize someone grasping their chest from their crushing chest pain and falling to the floor. Although some victims of heart attacks experience this description, not everyone suffering from heart attacks will have the same symptoms.

Other symptoms of heart attacks include: fatigue, sweating, shortness of breath, a fullness of the chest, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, chills, backaches, and pain in the arms. Sometimes, doctors attribute these symptoms to less serious conditions besides a heart attack, and can often misdiagnose a heart attack as anxiety, muscles aches, influenza and more. Some people do not have any symptoms of a heart attack, or the symptoms may be very mild in some people.

When an Iowa doctor overlooks a diagnosis of a heart attack, misreads tests, or delays their diagnosis, it may be too late. A patient may suffer from permanent heart muscle damage, embolism, heart failure, or death.

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, one in 50 heart attack victims are sent home by emergency room doctors due to misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose. When medical malpractice in Iowa such as this occurs, doctors should be held responsible.

If your loved one died as a result of an undiagnosed heart attack in Iowa, you should contact an experienced Cedar Rapids medical malpractice attorney to find out your rights. Call the Law Offices of Brady & O'Shea today at (319) 866-9277 for a free legal consultation.