Heart Malpractice

Failure to Timely Diagnose and Treat Heart Attack

October 4, 2011 | by Andrew G. Slutkin

In early 2003, a Pennsylvania pharmacist died of a heart attack while at work. In 2009, a jury found his family doctor negligent and awarded the man’s widow $4 million. Later, after determining the delay in the conclusion of the case was improper, the presiding Judge awarded the man’s widow an additional $1.2 million in damages. Last month, the Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld that $5.2 million award in the medical malpractice case.

This case is an example of the catastrophic results of a doctor failing to correctly diagnose and treat his patient. The man went to see the doctor four days before his death as a result of unexplained chest pain, jaw pain and anxiety. The doctor advised him that these symptoms were the result of anxiety. However, the man’s attorneys argued that the the doctor made a critical error by failing to take into account the following: the man was overweight, he had high cholesterol, he had high blood pressure and he had a history of heart disease in his family. On the day of his death, the man again contacted the doctor as a result of his symptoms persisting. By the time the doctor returned his call, the man was already in cardiac arrest.

Ultimately, jurors agreed that when the doctor analyzed the man’s complaints in light of the risk factors he had, the doctor should have immediately sent the man to an emergency room because the mans’ symptoms were suggestive of a heart attack. The autopsy results further confirmed this determination as it showed heart damage, specifically indicating that the man had a heart attack a few days before his death.

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Malpractice Involving Leaky Heart Value

March 2, 2011 | by Andrew G. Slutkin

A Montana woman and her four children have been awarded a $1.7 million verdict in a medical malpractice / wrongful death case arising from the death of her husband. The family alleged that a doctor failed to properly treat the woman’s husband for a known heart valve condition, commonly referred to as a leaky valve, and that the doctor should have referred the man to a heart specialist after he started having chest pain. Instead, the family alleged that the doctor misdiagnosed the chest pain as a torn muscle. The man died approximately one year later because he did not receive a replacement valve. A copy of an article regarding the case can be found here.

The failure to timely diagnose and treat a heart condition can be a catastrophic event. As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I have handled a number of medical malpractice cases involving failure to timely diagnose heart conditions. Some have involved malpractice in failing to timely diagnose heart attacks, and malpractice relating to the failure to timely diagnose congenital heart deformities. The key to cases like this is to obtain all of the medical records, and have the records reviewed by a competent cardiologist to determine whether the standard of care was met and, if not, whether any major injury resulted. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here.

Cardiomyopathy Causing Death of A Student Athlete

May 19, 2010 | by Andrew G. Slutkin

A jury in Massachusetts has awarded a husband and wife $1.6 million in a malpractice case against a doctgor over the death of their son on a college basketball court. The young man, a Senior in college at Eastern Connecticut State University, collapsed during a game due to a congenital heart defect called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The family claimed that the doctor, who had examined the young man and found him eligible to play, missed the heart condition.

As an experienced Maryland and Washington, D.C. attorney who handles many medical malpractice and other catastrophic injury cases, I have successfully handled many death cases and even a number of cases involving hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This is a condition that can be easily diagnosed. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here.

Contact Andrew G. Slutkin with further questions or inquiries at 410-385-2786

Failure To Timely Diagnose And Treat Heart Attack

February 2, 2010 | by Andrew G. Slutkin

A Texas jury has found a hospital guilty of medical malpractice for its treatment of a 41-year-old woman who died of a heart attack within hours of an emergency room visit. The jury found that the hospital committed willful or wanton negligence” in their treatment of the woman. The jury awarded $1.3 million in damages to the woman, her mother and the woman’s two children. A copy of the article regarding the case can be found here.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I have handled a number of medical malpractice cases involving the failure to timely diagnose and treat heart attacks. These cases are always troublesome because there are guidelines for which tests should be run on patients with heart attack symptoms (chest pain, difficulty breathing, arm pain, face pain, abnormal EKG, elevated cardiac enzymes, etc. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here.