Amazingly, sometimes doctors or physicians assistants in Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach, Deltona and other Volusia County cities misdiagnose your health condition because they do not recognize classic symptoms of heart attacks. Some symptoms of heart attacks are also symptoms of the flu, such as nausea, coughing, difficulty getting a deep breath and weakness. Many people having a heart attack do not have the classic symptom of severe chest pain. However because heart attacks are so life-threatening doctors’ procedures require that they check your complete condition to rule out the most dangerous conditions. If they do not they may be guilty of medical malpractice and you may be dead.

Doing a good job checking to see if you are having a heart attack includes, among other things, doing a complete clinical, physical examination, an electrocardiogram and blood testing. Blood testing is important because cardiac enzymes in the blood are a key part of diagnosing a heart attack.

Some doctors or other healthcare providers may not be thorough enough when you present with conditions that might also be symptoms of flu. Take responsibility and insist that the healthcare provider explain why they are not checking for a heart attack.

To make things worse, a New York Times article has reported that, “A recent New York state survey, for example, revealed that most cardiologists said that they sometimes did not operate on patients who might benefit from surgery because of their concerns about hurting their rankings on state-mandated physician scorecards.”

For more information about heart attack symptoms see the article in the Mayo Clinic website linked here.