Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in this country. That’s in part because they too often don’t realize they’re having a heart attack until it’s too late.
What’s even more disturbing is that doctors are more likely to ignore the signs of a heart attack in women than in men. Even when women recognize that there’s a problem and seek medical help, doctors still sometimes fail to do appropriate testing that could determine what’s happening and therefore provide the medical interventions they need
One professor says, “Women tend to go to the hospital later than men after the onset of symptoms. And physicians are not admitting women to the hospital at the same rates as men.” He adds, “We know that the sooner someone is treated, the greater their chances of recovery and survival.”
Failure to recognize both unique and traditional symptoms
When men suffer a heart attack, they are more likely to have chest pain than women. When women have a heart attack, they may not initially feel any chest pain. They may instead feel it in their abdomen, upper back or even their jaw. They often feel nauseous. None of these symptoms may necessarily point to a cardiac issue – especially if a woman hasn’t previously been diagnosed with heart disease or abnormalities.
Unfortunately, even when women present with more traditional heart attack symptoms like shortness of breath or rapid or irregular heartbeat, they’re more likely to be misdiagnosed as having a panic attack or anxiety disorder than men are.
Research has left little doubt that these failures to diagnose and misdiagnoses of heart attacks are at least partially gender based. In one study, researchers found that women who saw a female doctor when suffering a heart attack had a fatality rate of less than half that of women who had a male treating physician.
So, when is failure to diagnose a heart attack that becomes fatal or results in other harm considered medical malpractice? There are a number of factors to consider – such as whether accurate and timely diagnosis would have changed the outcome. The best first step to determining whether a doctor can be held liable is to get experienced legal guidance.