Failure to Treat High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure can silently damage a person for years. There may or may not be symptoms. When physicians fail to control high blood pressure, their patients may suffer a heart attack, stroke or heart disease. When patients have risk factors or exhibit symptoms of high blood pressure, their doctors should consider high blood pressure as a possible diagnosis. Patients harmed by a health care provider’s failure to treat high blood pressure may be able to recover damages by bringing a lawsuit. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, our Syracuse medical malpractice attorneys may be able to represent and fight for you.

When high blood pressure is left untreated, it can result in heart failure, a heart attack, stroke, angina, kidney disease, kidney failure, vision loss, peripheral artery disease, and sexual dysfunction. The mechanisms of each of these is different. For example, peripheral artery disease, a type of atherosclerosis, may cause a narrowing of arteries in the head, stomach, arms or legs, resulting in pain. If it’s not treated, peripheral artery disease can result in amputation or gangrene. For another example, uncontrolled high blood pressure can result in a narrowing or weakening of arteries around the kidneys, such that insufficient blood is carried to the kidneys.

Not every failure to treat high blood pressure constitutes medical malpractice. To establish that your health care provider is liable, you will need to show by a preponderance of the evidence: (1) your provider owed you a professional duty of care, (2) your provider breached this duty, (3) the breach caused your injuries, and (4) damages. The applicable professional duty of care depends on what a reasonably competent health care provider in Syracuse would have done under the same circumstances.

For instance, if a reasonably competent general practitioner in Syracuse would have referred you to a cardiologist for high blood pressure that is difficult to control, and yours did not, you may be able to sue for damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Alternatively, if a reasonably prudent Syracuse nephrologist would have used a surgical procedure to improve blood flow to the kidneys and better address kidney complications due to high blood pressure, but your nephrologist only relied on medications to treat you, you may have a claim for medical malpractice.

Your lawyer will need to consult a licensed doctor even before filing a medical malpractice lawsuit to make sure your claim is meritorious. A certificate must be attached to your complaint, attesting to the consultation.

If you are able to establish liability, you may be able to recover compensatory damages. These damages are meant to put you back in the place you would have been had no malpractice occurred. Compensatory damages can include medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, therapy costs, loss of income, loss of enjoyment, loss of consortium, lost earning capacity, and pain and suffering. The amount you can recover depends on the particular losses you incur as a result of untreated high blood pressure and the nature of the harm.

If a loved one died due to a health care provider’s failure to treat high blood pressure, you may be able to recover damages through a wrongful death suit. In New York, you can only recover pecuniary losses in a wrongful death lawsuit. For instance, if your spouse died because his health care provider failed to order an angioplasty when a reasonably competent provider in Syracuse facing similar circumstances would have ordered the procedure, you may be able to recover damages.

It’s crucial to obtain the appropriate treatment for high blood pressure; without it, your body may be damaged. If you were injured due to a provider’s failure to treat your high blood pressure, you should discuss what happened with the seasoned lawyers of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano. Our firm represents people across Upstate New York, in cities such as Rochester, Syracuse, Lowville, Watertown, Auburn, Oswego, Ithaca, Canandaigua, Lyons, Oneida, Cooperstown, Elmira, Wampsville, Herkimer, Binghamton, and Utica. Call DeFrancisco & Falgiatano at 833-200-2000 or complete our online form.