Misdiagnosing Heart Attacks
After Beatrice Vance died of an undiagnosed heart attack in the waiting room of her local emergency department this past summer, the coroner’s jury ruled her death a homicide. But hers was not an isolated case. USA Today has an in-depth article featuring James Pettry who died of a heart attack the day after being sent home from the emergency room.
An estimated 1 in 50 heart attack victims are not treated appropriately. Not only are the mistakes potentially deadly, they’re also very costly for physicians who are sued in malpractice cases. Dr. Joseph Ornato, professor and chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, advises patients and those who are involved in their care to “push doctors who are not listening.” But you won’t know to push unless you understand what to look for and what to expect.
Read the USA Today article and the accompanying comments at On Deadline to learn more.
Technorati Tags: heart, heart disease. heart attack, misdiagnosis, malpractice, diseases, health, cardiovascular disease, emergency room
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POSTED IN: Hearty Healthcare
1 opinion for Misdiagnosing Heart Attacks
Dr. Tony
Feb 23, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Missing a heart attack is a death sentence for some patients. All over America we hear the call to recognize symptoms and seek care. People with symptoms pass through the portals of the ER and become “patients.” When their symtoms are not taken seriously, they feel guilty - as if they made a mistake and should not have come in to the ER. When the doctor reassures that they are fine, the patient leaves the ER - often feeling embarassed. What is insidious about this behavioral pattern, is that if this patient really does have ACS, then they are not likely to return to the ER - because the reassurance thay were given was false reassurance - but they will not be embarassed again.
In the 21st century, there is no excuse for missing a heart attack. We know the symptoms. We know the disease process. We have two simple tools to make th eidagnosis of both STEMI and NSTEMI (EKG and Blood test).
Beatrice Vance and the coroner’s jury verdict of murder is an extreme example of bad care. But starting at that extreme and working closer to every day Americana, we know that about 12 million Americnas present to ERs with symptoms of possible ACS. We also know that Heart Attack remains the number on killer of adult Americans.
It is time for all of us born and trained in the 20th century to let go of the past and enter the 21st century where a symptoms based triage system (not acuity base) will deliver excellent care and te gross errors in judement that killed Beatrice Vance will not be repeated.
Dr. Tony (AMCINC.US)
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