A patient visited his physician because of chest pains. While in…

Question A patient visited his physician because of chest pains. While in… A patient visited his physician because of chest pains. While in the office an electrocardiogram was taken. The physician did not tell the patient about the results nor did he prescribe rest or other treatment. A week later the chest pains recurred and were more severe, and the patient called the doctor. The physician told him to go to the hospital. The physician did not tell him to go in an ambulance. The patient walked down several flights of stairs and drove to the hospital in his own car. Examination revealed that he had had a heart attack several days before and open heart surgery was necessary to repair the heart damage. The patient sued and recovered damages from the physician. The court held that a duly careful, reasonably prudent physician would have told his patient about the electrocardiogram results and would have hospitalized the patient immediately.  Do you find that these two situations were handled correctly or mishandled? Does the physician’s action meet the definition of a proximate cause? Is there a possibility of legal recourse? Yea Health Science Science Nursing Share QuestionEmailCopy link Comments (0)