If you have a heart attack, immediate treatment to get the blood flowing to the damaged part of your heart muscle again is absolutely crucial, determining the level of permanent damage to your heart muscle.
Delayed treatment following a heart attack can have a life-threatening impact on the patient, with many people requiring emergency treatment to unblock the coronary artery.
The Danger of Missed and Delayed Diagnosis
We know that medical professionals frequently misdiagnose heart attacks.
A treating clinician may mistake a patient’s symptoms for a less serious condition instead, such as indigestion or heart burn.
The patient may be sent home with a treatment plan or medication that not only fails to treat the patient’s heart attack, but may potentially cause further harm.
This is especially common in situations where the presenting patient does not appear to be at high risk, like a young person or a physically fit female.
By failing to treat the heart attack, the heart muscle begins to wane immediately upon the onset of a heart attack and the harm worsens with every passing minute.
Prevention and immediate treatment are the most effective means of avoiding heart attack fatalities, so misdiagnosis can result in fatal consequences.
Heart attacks can lead to heart failure by weakening the heart's pumping ability and sometimes heart failure comes on very suddenly after a heart attack.
The heart muscle becomes weaker and has trouble pumping blood to nourish the cells in your body - a chronic condition that gradually deteriorates.
Our highly-skilled, knowledgeable team is ready to help with even the most complex medical negligence claims and we invite you to get in touch.
