Major Heart Attack After Being Told Chest Pain Was Due to Exercising

My question involves medical malpractice in the state of: Texas

My concern involves my father who recently turned 76 years old. He is a doctor himself and was diagnosed with arterial stenosis a year ago. His doctor told him that eventually he would require angioplasty and a stint. A month ago he went to his doctor complaining of extreme weakness and chest pain. He has always eaten right and exercised. He had done his usual routine of push-ups the night before and his doctor, without testing him further, sent him home stating his pain was due to the exercise he had done. My father knew something was wrong and begged to have the surgery his doctor said he would need done at that time. He was told he had at least six months before that was necessary.

Two weeks ago, he suffered a major heart attack while at his office. My mother took him to the nearest hospital and thus, he did not see the same doctor. His new doctor informed him the angioplasty and stint should have been done a long time ago. His other doctor even called him to "apologize". Now my father is in the ICU and very sick. My sister and I are concerned his time is now limited. She and I feel this would not have happened had he had this surgery done BEFORE the severe heart attack as he had requested.

Is there any recourse we can take in this instance? Thank you for any advice.

Medicine is not an exact science and there can be more than one school of thought as to the necessity of any given treatment, with both points of view having validity.

The only one who has any standing to take legal action is your father himself. If he is interested in doing so, when he recovers he can take his medical records to a medical malpractice expert, who will determine whether or not the necessary standard of care was breached. Note that bad outcome does not always, or even most of the time, mean malpractice or negligence.

Neither you, your sister or your mother has any standing to take any action. Since your father is still living and, we assume since you have not said otherwise, still capable of making his own decisions, the opt to take legal action is his and his alone.

My best wishes for his speedy recovery.

My best wishes too.

Please understand, I'm not trying to dash anybody's hopes or anything.

But, cardiology in particular is an imprecise art. Unfortunately what seems stable can become instable (and even deadly) within a matter of seconds - there's just no way we can predict the outcome. With arterial stenosis, initial treatment will depend on where it is (it could be the pulmonary artery for example, or the carotid artery and the severity of the condition. Many cardiologists would prefer a conservative treatment plan unless there's a risk of imminent death or stroke. Some will treat it far more aggressively from the get-go.

I would strongly advise your Dad to get his medical records together and see a med-mal attorney if he thinks there's an obvious deviation from the standard of care.

Unfortunately med-mal cases are about money. At Dad's age and potential earnings, it might be difficult to convince an attorney to take the case on a contingency basis.