Failure to diagnose a heart attack in Michigan ERs leads to tragic outcomes for patients and their families, even wrongful deaths in some cases. While emergency rooms and urgent care units are often busy and hectic, that’s no excuse for providers to fail to meet the standard of care. If you have gone to a Michigan emergency room with chest pains or dizziness and suffered additional consequences due to their failure to diagnose a heart attack, you may have legal recourse.
Medical malpractice is a complex, niche area of personal injury law, so it can be extremely challenging for everyday people with no legal training to fully understand failure to diagnose laws and the associated failure to diagnose penalties under Michigan personal injury law. Diving into a comprehensive study of Michigan failure to diagnose penalties can be especially difficult for someone who is supposed to limit their stress when recovering from a heart attack.
This is one reason it can be extremely valuable to hire a top Michigan medical malpractice lawyer if you have found yourself in this troubling circumstance. A Michigan personal injury lawyer with a solid background in medical malpractice cases involving a failed or missed heart attack diagnosis can handle all of the tedious and detail-heavy aspects of the legal process while you focus on the crucial work of recovering from your heart attack or grieving for your lost loved one.
Heart Attack in the ER? Hire a Failure to Diagnose Lawyer
Visiting an emergency room is a stressful and disorienting experience. For one, you’re there because you are not feeling well, which makes everything harder. It’s also an unfamiliar space unless you have frequent medical emergencies, and many people experience high levels of anxiety related to medical care facilities. Furthermore, when someone checks into an ER, they’re focused on getting help, not waiting to catch a medical malpractice catastrophe.
Some people may even think that ERs are subject to totally different medical malpractice laws than other facilities, since they are fast-paced environments and intended as a short-term solution for medical emergencies that pop up unexpectedly.
While it is admirable to cut busy employees some slack in most circumstances, the stakes are too high in an emergency room. The simple fact is that if you suffered a heart attack while in the care of an emergency room, or shortly after leaving one, and they failed to diagnose or treat your condition despite having every opportunity to do so, you may have grounds to take legal action.
When a medical practitioner fails to meet the standard of care expected of them, whether at an ER or the dentist, Michigan law may very well be on your side if you choose to take action in a medical malpractice claim.
Emergency Room Heart Attacks: A Complicated Legal Area
When someone goes to the emergency room in Michigan because they believe they’ve experienced a heart attack, or because they have chest pains, dizziness, or other indicators of a heart attack, they are often well cared for and properly diagnosed. Emergency room doctors and nurses in Michigan are talented, dedicated people who save Michiganders in the aftermath of heart attacks, car crashes, and other medical emergencies every single day.
Unfortunately, it only takes one mistake to do immeasurable damage when it occurs in an emergency room, especially if the victim of that mistake is having a heart attack. We all know serious cardiac arrest can lead to sudden death, but heart attacks may be more common than you realize, with over 800,000 occurring annually in the US. Failure to properly diagnose and treat even minor cardiac events can lead to serious, sometimes life-long consequences for patients.
If heart attacks are more common than you realized, medical malpractice cases might also be. According to the federal government’s National Practitioner Data Bank, Michigan actually ranks in the top ten nationwide for medical malpractice motions, with over 20 incidents per 100,000 in an average year. That means you don’t have to simply accept the results of your botched ER visit. A medical malpractice claim may be able to help you access the support you need.
FAQs About Failure to Diagnose a Heart Attack in Michigan ERs
Can You File a Claim Against an Emergency Room for Misdiagnosis?
Yes, you can file a claim against an emergency room for misdiagnosis, depending on the circumstances. So long as the diagnosis in question is within the purview of the facility you are visiting, and the misdiagnosis resulted in tangible, legally compensable damages, such as illnesses or injuries, a successful medical malpractice claim may indeed be possible.
Can the ER Miss a Heart Attack?
Yes, the ER can miss a heart attack. Any doctor can miss a diagnosis, because doctors are human beings capable of making mistakes, even though we routinely put our lives in their hands. When doctors do make mistakes, medical malpractice laws provide injured patients in Michigan with powerful options to seek restitution for this traumatic experience. Even if the patient lost their life due to a missed heart attack diagnosis, family members can seek justice in court.
What Qualifies for Medical Malpractice in Michigan?
Many scenarios qualify for medical malpractice in Michigan. For an incident to qualify as medical malpractice, the plaintiff first must have been an actual patient. The plaintiff must also provide evidence showing that the doctor or facility failed to meet the standard of care expected of them, and that this failure resulted in harm. This means many different situations may qualify.
What Is a Common Misdiagnosis of a Heart Attack?
Common misdiagnoses of heart attack include acid reflux, anxiety episode, and muscle pain. While a heart attack does cause anxiety, and is technically a form of muscle pain, the muscle in question powers all of your body’s systems, making it much more serious than a cramped pectoral muscle. There are other possible bad diagnoses for a cardiac event, depending on what symptoms the patient is experiencing and other factors.
Had a Heart Attack in the ER? We Can Help You
If you have suffered a serious illness or even lost a loved one due to an emergency room in Michigan failing to correctly diagnose a heart attack, you may have legal recourse. Contact the firm of Goethel Engelhardt, PLLC, as soon as possible to set up a completely confidential, completely free consultation session, where we can learn more about what you’re facing, and you can learn more about how our world-class, Michigan-based law firm is able to help.
