A new study lead by Dr. Sana M. Al-Khatib, as associate professor of medicine at Duke University, shows that 22.5% of patients implanted with internal cardiac defibrillators may have received the devices unnecessarily. Read the study in it’s entirely below.
The study, being published in The Journal of the American Medical Association today, examined the records of over 111,707 people and 1,227 hospitals from 2006 to 2009 and determined that 22.5% of people fell outside the guidelines of patients who should receive internal cardiac defibrillators as determined by the American Heart Association. For example, according to two clinical studies, there is no benefit from an internal cardiac defibrillator in patients who have recently had a heart attack yet 37% of people who received a device improperly had a heart attack in the past 4 months.
Medical Malpractice and Cardiac Defibrillators
Even more suprising is that 30% of people that should be receiving internal cardiac defibrillators are not receiving them. Failure to diagnose a heart condition properly can lead to serious problems including death. The instances of medical malpractice could be widespread in respect to implanting cardiac defibrillators when they’re not needed or when doctors fail to implant them when they are.
If you or a loved one has suffered from the malpractice of your doctor contact the experienced New York attorneys of Rheingold, Giuffra, Ruffo & Plotkin LLP for a free consultation.
