Heart disease is the cause of 20% of deaths in the United States, and over 800,000 people suffer heart attacks each year. Heart issues are incredibly common, which means doctors and medical facilities encounter patients experiencing cardiovascular emergencies on a daily basis. Despite the prevalence of heart disease, physicians and surgeons continue to make mistakes in their diagnosis and treatment, that lead to significant harm and death. Medical malpractice cases involving cardiac conditions are far too common.

Common Causes for Medical Malpractice

Common causes for medical malpractice cases for patients with heart disease is the failure to timely diagnose and/or treat a heart condition, heart event, or heart attack leading to damage to the heart, other organs or death. The failure to timely intervene in cases regarding heart conditions or events means that the patient loses heart muscle, and the effects can be severe and permanent. Heart conditions often require multiple types of tests in order to rule out some conditions and identify others. Physicians must perform the appropriate tests to diagnose and treat their patients’ medical conditions. Physicians are required to order the appropriate tests based upon the patient’s condition and symptoms, and other physicians are required to accurately read those tests.

In addition to misdiagnosis, the failure to timely diagnose, and the failure to timely intervene, can be the basis of a malpractice claim.  Doctors who do the following things may also be subject to a medical malpractice claim:

• Misread diagnostic test results
• Fail to order the appropriate tests
• Not prescribing the correct medicine or the right dosage
• Not ordering the appropriate procedure, surgery or intervention
• Making a mistake in surgery, such as improperly placing a stent
• Not requesting the appropriate consult, or failing to do so timely

These are just a few examples of the types of malpractice that we see in heart disease cases. There are many ways for a physician or other healthcare professional to act negligently and harm a patient in these types of cases. If you believe that you or a loved one has suffered from medical malpractice, it is recommended that you contact us immediately about your situation. In most cases, you only have two years and six months from the time of the medical negligence to take legal action and it takes time to get all of the relevant medical records and investigate a medical malpractice case.

Recovering Damages for Medical Negligence

In New York, you can recover economic and noneconomic damages in a medical malpractice suit. Most states limit the amount of compensation an injured victim can recover in these types of cases.  New York is not one of those states.

Economic damages include expenses and losses that can be somewhat easily quantified, such as medical bills and lost wages. Noneconomic damages tend to be more challenging to place a value on and include:

• Pain and suffering
• Impairment of earning ability
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Mental anguish
• Emotional distress
• Fear of impending death

There are also damages for wrongful death.  However, the categories for those types of damages are limited. In most cases, even where there is a death, you can sue for the economic damages, non-economic damages, and support.

Financial compensation cannot undo the loss, pain, and trauma you’ve experienced.  It can help ease the monetary burden that medical malpractice causes.

Josh and Janet have spent decades fighting for injured clients to receive the compensation they need to recover physically, emotionally, and financially. Let us help you. Contact us for a free consultation today.