Failure to Refer to Cardiologist, Physician Settles Claim for $2.2M after Patient Has Stroke

​A primary care physician has agreed to settle malpractice allegations with a payment of $2,225,000 resolving a lawsuit brought by a patient who alleged that the physician should have referred him to a cardiologist in light of abnormal electrocardiogram (EKG) findings and chest pain he experienced. The patient claimed that if he had been properly referred when he was seen, he would have a higher likelihood of avoiding a stroke that occurred less than a year later. The patient was in his mid-50s when he visited the physician complaining of chest pain about one week earlier. He also underwent an EKG that suggested that he may have had a heart attack. He claimed that the physician should have referred him to a cardiologist, who would have provided treatment that would give him a 22% chance of avoiding a stroke in the future.