Some medical conditions are more common in some demographics than in others, but if a patient is having symptoms that could indicate a serious health condition, doctors should not automatically assume that the patient does not have this condition just because he or she is not of the same age, ethnic background, or sex as the majority of the patients who receive this diagnosis. Men can get breast cancer. People under the age of 65 can have Alzheimer’s disease. Cardiovascular disease in women, especially in women under the age of 50, frequently goes undiagnosed because most physicians did not learn about it in medical school.
The old thinking was that heart attacks are more common in men than in women, but more recent data shows that, especially in older patients, the risk of heart attack and stroke is approximately equal for both sexes. Young women have a lower prevalence of cardiovascular events, but if they show symptoms of a heart attack, doctors should not rule out a diagnosis of heart attack without investigating. If doctors failed to diagnose your medical emergency accurately, causing your condition to worsen, contact a Santa Fe medical malpractice lawyer.
Multiple Doctors Dismissed Patient’s Heart Attack Symptoms as Ordinary Discomforts of Pregnancy
In 2006, when Bryanna Baker was pregnant, she went to the emergency room in Raton because she was having severe chest pain. After a perfunctory examination, the doctors there told her that her chest pain and nausea were normal symptoms of pregnancy. Then she went to Alta Vista Hospital in Las Vegas, where the doctors repeated that her symptoms were probably just pregnancy symptoms, but they referred her to a hospital in Albuquerque, where doctors determined that she had suffered a heart attack caused by a blood clot in her left ventricle. Baker, who was 24 at the time, suffered a miscarriage and eventually required a heart transplant.
Baker filed a medical malpractice lawsuit shortly after her ordeal. Due to the damages caps that were in place at the time, the amount that the court awarded her was not enough to cover the medical expenses she incurred because of the malpractice. The laws have since changed, so that courts can order individual physicians to pay up to $750,000 per patient and hospitals to pay up to $5.5 million. In 2026, the maximum amount hospitals can pay per malpractice claim will rise to $6 million. New Mexico also has a Patient Compensation Fund, which helps cover patients’ financial losses arising from malpractice.
When patients file medical malpractice claims, they can request compensation for the medical expenses they incurred because of the physician’s error. They can also request compensation for future treatment they are expected to need because of the malpractice. If the harm caused by the malpractice was especially severe, the patient can also request non-economic damages for pain and suffering.
Contact Slate Stern About Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
Slate Stern is a personal injury lawyer who represents plaintiffs injured as a result of medical errors. Contact Slate Stern in Santa Fe, New Mexico, or call (505)814-1517 to discuss your case.
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