Chest pain leading to myocardial infarction is the leading cause of litigation against family physicians. More malpractice dollars are awarded for missed myocardial infarctions than for any other single diagnosis, according to the PIAA report. Suits involving myocardial infarction are typically brought by younger patients with negative past histories, normal EKGs and atypical complaints. The typical claim involves an allegation of misdiagnosis or mismanagement of tests. Common pitfalls in dealing with chest pain include poor documentation of characteristics and precipitating factors for chest pain.
Breast cancer is almost equal to myocardial infarction in litigation prevalence.
The most common allegation in a breast cancer lawsuit is that the doctor's actions or lack of action led to a delay in the diagnosis, which resulted in subsequent injury to the patient. While most breast cancer occurs in women older than 50, most malpractice suits regarding breast cancer are filed by women younger than 50 who have discovered breast masses and were assumed by their physicians to have fibrocystic disease of the breast. The typical allegation is that the physician did not recognize the significance of a breast lump or that tests and follow-up were mismanaged. Plaintiff attorneys often argue that a physician's care was not aggressive enough in the face of a potentially deadly and curable disease. Appendicitis suits rank third in prevalence, even though appendicitis is the cause of acute abdominal pain only about 5 percent of the time or less.