A couple of recent pieces caught my eye about the puzzling drop in non-COVID conditions being treated at hospitals around the country. Heart attacks, strokes, and appendicitis visits are reportedly down in the last month. And a study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology reports that the number of heart attack patients dropped more than a third in the nine hospitals examined. It’s not like Americans are suddenly much healthier, though. The authors’ leading theory is that COVID-19 is scaring people away from necessary medical care, sometimes with devastating effects.

Worse, the average non-COVID-19 patient is arriving sicker than before the pandemic. This may be attributable to people trying to treat at home, only to find they’re in over their head. And these patients are then more difficult to treat.

It is worth noting that hospitals have been working hard to keep spaces sanitary and minimize the risk of transmission to non-COVID-19 patients in the emergency room. This includes such measures as testing all admitted patients, keeping potential COVID patients separated, and triaging patients with non life-threatening conditions away from the ER.

Still, the data shows that people are putting off what they think is non-urgent care. But there can be long term medical – and legal – implications. Tyler wrote recently about the defense tactic of blaming the patient where they can. A classic scenario is for the patient to be treated and get told to follow up if symptoms persist. Then, for one reason or another the patient does not. Well, once the pandemic passes, will plaintiffs get sympathy for not making “necessary” follow-up appointments in light of COVID-19 fear? So, while COVID-19 is scaring people away from necessary medical care, there are multiple considerations for patients.

Read more here: Patients with heart attacks, strokes, and even appendicitis vanish from hospitals; COVID-19 Making Heart Attack Patients Stay Home;