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Deadly medical misdiagnoses: Women are often sent home after a heart attack.

Many health care providers believe that heart disease is primarily a disease of men. However, every year, more than 233,000 women die from cardiovascular disease. In fact, heart disease kills more women than men.

Research shows that women are most often the victims of failed diagnosis or misdiagnosis of heart conditions. Women who are under 55 and are having a heart attack are seven times more likely to be misdiagnosed than men the same age. EMT’s and first responders rarely offer aspirin or nitroglycerin to women experiencing heart attacks. And, women are often sent home from the hospital without treatment. This doubles their chances of dying.

One reason heart attacks in women are misdiagnosed is because women don’t always show the classic heart attack symptoms that men can exhibit when they are experiencing a heart attack. Because of this, both women and medical providers delay treatment.

Classic Heart Attack Symptoms:

• Pain felt as a crushing weight against the chest
• Pain may radiate to the left shoulder and arm, the neck or jaw, and even infrequently to the right arm
• Tingling or numbness in the arm
• Profuse sweating

Heart Attack Symptoms in Women

• Shortness of breath
• Dizziness, weakness or fainting
• Unusual fatigue
• Cold sweat
• Nausea not relieved by antacids
• Back, neck or jaw pain
• Vomiting
• Anxiety

Because women have such varied symptoms, doctors may misdiagnose heart attacks as gastric problems (indigestion), viral infections, chronic fatigue, stress, mental anxiety or depression.

Sometimes, a doctor correctly diagnoses a heart attack, but hospital triage staff has delayed treatment because they did not recognize the symptoms as serious. Emergency room treatment is often delayed or even denied when the heart attack victim is a woman. According to a recent study, women are far less likely than men to be admitted to the hospital for evaluation and treatment of coronary artery disease. hey wait an average of six minutes longer than men to receive an EKG and an average of 23 minutes longer than men for “clot-buster” treatments that can stop a heart attack and reduce damage to the heart muscle. In fact, women are only half as likely as men to receive “clot-busters” at all.

If you or someone you love is a victim of misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, you may have a Kansas City medical malpractice case. Contact the Missouri medical malpractice attorneys at Kansas City Accident Injury Attorneys to schedule a free legal consultation. We can listen to your story and determine if you have a case. To learn more about medical malpractice in Missouri, call our office at 1-888-348-2616 and request a free copy of “The Truth About Medical Malpractice Claims.”

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