Heart Attack Misdiagnosis Lawyers In Chicago

Medical Malpractice Lawsuits For Delayed Heart Attack Diagnosis

Heart attacks are serious medical emergencies that require a prompt and accurate diagnosis.

Should health care providers fail to timely diagnose a patient’s heart attack, fail to diagnose heart disease that can lead to a heart attack, or misdiagnose a cardiac condition, patients can miss out on receiving the treatment they need when they need it most.

If you or someone you love suffered harm due to a medical provider’s failure to properly diagnose a heart attack or heart disease, you may have grounds to pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit. Our award-winning Chicago heart attack misdiagnosis attorneys at Power Rogers can help.

Why Choose Power Rogers?

Power Rogers is a nationally renowned medical malpractice trial firm that has recovered millions for victims and families who suffered due to medical mistakes – include diagnostic errors involving misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, and failures to timely treat an illness or injury.

Families trust our firm because:

We have recovered over $5 billion in compensation for clients – $900 million more than our closest competitor since the year 2000.
We have secured record-setting results, including the largest medical malpractice verdict in Illinois history ($55 million) and the largest medical malpractice settlement in Cook County in 2016 ($47.5 million).
We’re led by some of the nation’s top trial lawyers, including founding partner Joseph A. Power Jr.

Our Chicago attorneys are available to discuss your options for a malpractice lawsuit involving failure to diagnose heart disease or heart attack. Call to request a FREE consultation.

Are You Able To File A Malpractice Lawsuit For Heart Attack Misdiagnosis?

Victims who are harmed by the substandard care of their health care providers may have the right to file legal action and seek compensation for their damages. Proving “substandard care” on the part of a provider – be it a primary care physician, emergency department physician, radiologist, or some other medical professional – is one of the most important parts of a malpractice suit.

Because the standard of care is unique to a specific doctor-patient relationship, determining whether your provider deviated from accepted medical standards when examining, testing, treating, or diagnosing you will require an in-depth investigation of your case.

It also requires collaboration with medical experts who can attest to the quality of care you received from a provider, and whether that provider failed to act with the knowledge, care, and skill a reasonably careful provider or specialist would be expected to act under similar circumstances.

Heart disease / heart attack misdiagnosis claims are highly fact-specific matters. Our attorneys can help you better understand whether you have the right to sue during a free evaluation of your case.

Examples Of Diagnostic Errors Involving Heart Attack/ Heart Disease

A missed or delayed diagnosis can prevent a patient from receiving the treatment they need, and may allow their condition to become worse.

Generally, a diagnostic error occurs when

A patient is not diagnosed with a medical condition (heart disease or heart attack) despite having signs and symptoms consistent with the condition.
A patient is diagnosed with a condition they do not have.
A patient is diagnosed after the condition has worsened.

Your right to pursue a heart disease / heart attack misdiagnosis lawsuit will depend on the specific facts of your situation. However, there are many examples of medical negligence that can allow victims in your position to pursue legal action. Some of these include:

A provider’s failure to conduct a patient examination, medical history, and differential diagnosis.
Emergency room errors involving a failure to timely diagnose and treat an evolving heart attack.
Failure to recognize signs and symptoms such as pain and tightness in the chest, neck, or arms, dizziness, fatigue, cold sweats, or shortness of breath that may indicate myocardial infarction (heart attack) or cardiac conditions such as arrhythmia, aortic aneurysm, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, and more.
Failure to order appropriate testing and exams, such as EKGs, chest X-rays, cardiac catheterization, MRI / CT scans, and more.
Misdiagnosing a heart attack as another less-serious condition, such as GERD, heartburn or gastroenteritis, panic attacks, pancreatitis, or pneumonia.
Failure to timely treat cardiac conditions and monitor medications.

Compensation For Victims

A successful heart disease or heart attack misdiagnosis suit allows victims to recover financial compensation for their damages. This may include:

Medical bills and future medical expenses
Lost wages and future earnings
Pain and suffering
Other economic / non-economic losses

Damages are also awarded to surviving family members who prevail in wrongful death suits, including lost financial and emotional support, lost value of household services, funeral expenses, and more.

Examples Of Our Case Results

$20 million recovery for a woman who suffered severe brain damage during open heart surgery at University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center (1997). It was alleged that the surgeon failed to properly remove air from her heart after performing a bypass, resulting in an air embolus.
$17.25 million recovery for a woman who suffered a heart attack and permanent brain injury when doctors at Christ Hospital Medical Center failed to closely monitor anticoagulant treatment during rehabilitation (1998).
$12 million recovery for a mother diagnosed with postpartum cardiomyopathy who suffered a hemorrhagic stroke resulting in hemiparesis. It was alleged that she was over-anti-coagulated with Coumadin based on blood work (INR assessment).
$8 million recovery for a former attorney who developed a pneumothorax when a chest tube from a triple bypass was removed, resulting in cardiac arrest and brain damage.
$2.3 million recovery over failure to diagnose and treat an evolving heart attack. Because ER providers at MacNeal Hospital treated the female patient for GERD, there was a 7-hour delay in diagnosis hat ultimately led to significant heart muscle damage and death.

Speak With A Chicago Attorney About Your Heart Attack Misdiagnosis Claim

Due to the severe nature of coronary episodes, fast action is vital for positive patient outcomes. Unfortunately heart attacks and heart disease are among the most commonly misdiagnosed conditions in U.S. emergency departments and primary care practices. When the reason for misdiagnosis is an inexcusable deviation from the standard of care – providers must be held accountable.

If you or a loved one suffered from what you believed to be a delayed or missed diagnosis of a heart attack or cardiac condition, you may have legal recourse. Learn more about your rights and options by contacting one of our Chicago lawyers for a FREE consultation.