Unfortunately, despite the risk factors, pulmonary embolism is often misdiagnosed. This can have serious or even fatal consequences. When a misdiagnosis happens, Gill Ports Hoste LLC is here to help. For over 100 years, our medical malpractice lawyers in Chicago have been fighting for victims of medical negligence, and we’ve recovered over $500 million for our clients.
Pulmonary embolism is the third leading cause of cardiovascular death, and the American Heart Association reports it was responsible for more than 36,000 deaths in the most recent year for which data is available.
To find out more about how we can help you, give us a call or contact us online to schedule a free consultation with a pulmonary embolism misdiagnosis attorney in Chicago.
How does pulmonary embolism misdiagnosis happen?
Pulmonary embolism misdiagnosis can occur if:
- Doctors mistake the condition for other medical issues, such as heart failure, lung disease, or panic attacks.
- Doctors overlook key risk factors or take an incomplete medical history, so they don’t recognize that you face an elevated risk due to things like extended travel, recent surgery, prolonged bed rest, DVT, or underlying conditions like cancer or obesity
- Doctors are led astray by cognitive bias, ruling out this condition because they don’t expect it if you don’t fit the profile.
- Doctors fail to order the correct diagnostic tests, such as a D-dimer blood test or a CT pulmonary angiogram
- Medical professionals misinterpret the results of radiological testing
In these and other situations, medical negligence plays a role in causing the misdiagnosis to occur. Providers can be held responsible for this medical negligence.
In some cases, their employers can also be made to pay damages based on negligent clinic or hospital policies or based on vicarious liability laws that hold employers liable for on-the-job negligence of staff.
Gill Ports Hoste LLC can help you determine if your misdiagnosis occurred due to a medical failure that can give rise to a malpractice claim.
What are the consequences of a Chicago pulmonary embolism misdiagnosis?
Consequences of a misdiagnosed pulmonary embolism can be severe. Some potential complications include:
- Wrongful death. Around 3 in 10 untreated PEs result in death. If a clot blocks blood flow to both lungs (which is called a saddle embolism), death can happen in minutes
- Damage to the organs and/or brain because of severely restricted blood flow
- Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension (CTEPH): High blood pressure can result when blood clots are not properly dissolved. This can cause permanent damage to the heart.
- Lung damage: If tissues in the lungs die, this can cause scarring and permanent breathing complications, as well as severe respiratory distress in some cases.
- Heart failure: Because the heart has to work harder to move the blood through the lungs when you have a pulmonary embolism, the heart muscle can become weakened, and the risk of cardiac failure increases.
Those who were responsible for the misdiagnosis should be responsible for covering the costs associated with these losses. However, you will have to prove the defendant was to blame and demonstrate the harm caused by their failures to provide you with timely treatment.
How a Chicago pulmonary embolism misdiagnosis lawyer can help
Gill Ports Hoste LLC will fight for you at every step when a doctor hurts you by misdiagnosing you. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation with a pulmonary embolism misdiagnosis lawyer in Chicago to learn more.