The Tribune-Review reports that a wrongful death lawsuit was filed against Uniontown Hospital.
Shanin Specter, the Philadelphia personal injury attorney that is representing the family, filed the claim on February 22. The lawsuit states that the victim, a 51-year-old mother, went to Uniontown Hospital because she was experiencing chest pain. When she was admitted to the emergency room, she told the doctor about her pain and how she felt the pain pulsing in her left arm. Her other symptom was shortness of breath.
After the emergency room doctor was aware of her symptoms, an ECG was ordered. According to E Medicine Health, an ECG (electrocardiogram) is a machine that "measures and records the electrical activity of the heart." The site goes on to list the symptoms of someone who would be required to have an ECG done, and the first two that are listed are chest pain and shortness of breath.
E Medicine Health also warns that, "the ECG is just one test your health care provider will use in making an overall evaluation. Your ECG may be completely normal despite the presence of significant heart disease."
However in this case, the Tribune-Review reports that after the ECG was conducted, the victim was discharged and her diagnosis was that she had "non-cardiac chest pain." The lawsuit claims that the hospital had enough information about the victim's history to warrant more tests: the victim was a smoker and her mother died from a heart attack at an early age.
Five days after her visit to Uniontown Hospital, the victim died of a myocardial infarction.
The hospital, ER doctor Marcy Goisse, and Emergency Resources Management are all named as defendants in the suit.
Related Resources:
- Medical Malpractice: Misdiagnosis (FindLaw)
- Wrongful Death - Overview (FindLaw)
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