You may know that you are at risk of having a heart attack because of your family history, cholesterol levels or high blood pressure. However, until that chest clutching pain, left arm pain, or general feeling that something is wrong begins, it is hard to know when a heart attack may be imminent. While your doctor may treat the underlying condition(s) that put you at risk, it is currently difficult to diagnose a heart attack before it occurs and provide treatment. New developments may soon change that problem and make it possible to diagnose heart attacks before they occur.

If you are at high risk of suffering a heart attack, then it is important to know more about the proper diagnosis of heart attacks, when the failure to diagnose a heart attack may be medical malpractice, and when to call an Atlanta medical malpractice attorney.

The Future of Heart Attack Diagnoses
 
Researchers recently announced the development of a new blood test that could predict an imminent heart attack. The test is believed to be able to predict a heart attack up to two weeks before it occurs and provide physicians with time to prevent the heart attack. The blood test will be subject to additional testing before it is available for routine use by doctors.

When a Doctor May be Negligent

While the test is not yet available, it provides an important example of how the diagnosis of heart attacks, and other conditions, is always changing. Doctors are not currently medically negligent for not using this blood test. However, if the blood test becomes widely used by reasonable doctors in the community and a doctor fails to use the test resulting in patient harm, then the doctor may have committed medical malpractice.

Generally, a doctor has committed medical malpractice when the doctor:

(1)Owes a patient a duty of care.
(2)Breaches that duty of care by failing to act like a reasonable doctor would act in similar circumstances.
(3)Harms the patient because of the breach of the duty of care.
(4)Owes the patient, or the patient’s survivors, damages according to the law.
 
Contact an Atlanta Medical Malpractice Attorney if Your Doctor Failed to Diagnose Your Heart Attack
 
Even without the heart attack predicting blood test of the future, doctors have a responsibility to act with reasonable care in making diagnoses. If you have been harmed by the failure to diagnose a heart attack, or a loved one has died, then please contact an experienced Atlanta medical malpractice lawyer at 1.770.518.1133.

Our Atlanta failure to diagnose attorneys also encourage you to read our FREE publication, The Heart Report: Common Diseases and Medical Errors, to learn more about heart attacks and medical errors.