49 yo Actress Dies of Heart Attack After Being Released From Hospital

[umsami]

DuShon Monique Brown, a 49 year old actress, died today of a heart attack.  She was on the show "Chicago Fire", had a master's in counseling, and had worked as a school counselor as well.

 

I'm 49, so this hit me hard.  A couple of things come to mind. 

 

1) Women's chest pain is not taken as seriously as men's...especially at 49.  Yet, she was admitted, and then released. Did they do a different work up on her than they would have a man with similar pain?

 

 

2) There are known differences in quality of care given to patients of color. (Google it, tons of articles.)  It does not depend on education level, either.   Was this a factor?

 

 

Have you been to the hospital for chest pains for yourself?  Did you feel that you were taken seriously?

[HSmomof2]

DuShon Monique Brown, a 49 year old actress, died today of a heart attack. She was on the show "Chicago Fire", had a master's in counseling, and had worked as a school counselor as well.

 

I'm 49, so this hit me hard. A couple of things come to mind.

 

1) Women's chest pain is not taken as seriously as men's...especially at 49. Yet, she was admitted, and then released. Did they do a different work up on her than they would have a man with similar pain?

 

 

2) There are known differences in quality of care given to patients of color. (Google it, tons of articles.) It does not depend on education level, either. Was this a factor?

 

 

Have you been to the hospital for chest pains for yourself? Did you feel that you were taken seriously?

I have been, more than once, and was always taken seriously. And I’m younger than 49. I got in immediately, had multiple EKG’s, blood levels checked, usually a chest X-ray. Follow up referral to cardiologist. Even though my risk was low, cardiologist still did echo and nuclear stress test. My pain was determined to be caused by reflux.

 

ETA: I am very sorry to read about DuShon Monique Brown’s death. I read she did have some tests at the hospital several days ago. I truly hope she was taken seriously and not mistreated because of her age or race.

Edited March 24, 2018 by HSmomof2

[Arctic Bunny]

I was under 40, knew it was 90% chance of anxiety, got rushed straight it for testing.

[dirty ethel rackham]

The one time I went to the hospital for chest pain, I had the flu (likely H1N1 during that big outbreak) and they basically treated me like a hypochondriac.   I have never been so sick in my entire life and I thought I was dying. They did a 2 second ekg and then I was released a couple hours later.  No discussion of the chest pain in the discharge papers.  Just instructions on dealing with the flu.  That wasn't why I went in.   I'm pretty sure that they would find a reason to brush it off for me.  I am not a woman of color, just a woman who had a hard time getting doctors to take me seriously.  10 years with an underfunctioning thyroid that was "all in my head."  A failed surgery that was listed in the doctor's notes as a success.  A second surgery that had lots of complications that weren't taken seriously and I am still dealing with the consequences today.  Yeah, not a lot of faith in medicine in how it is practiced.  

 

Very sad about Ms. Brown.  

[katilac]

I haven't been to a hospital, but I went to a medical clinic in my mid-twenties for chest pain and shortness of breath, and they took it VERY seriously. They took me back right away and checked things out. I can't remember what tests they ran exactly, but I remember them being very sure to rule out a heart issue even though I was so young and had no history. I was not a regular patient there, and I just walked in, so it was even more impressive imo. 

 

As it turns out, I had pulled a muscle swinging a heavy sample case into my trunk with one hand. That caused the pain and the pain caused the shortness of breath. 

 

I'm not as confident it would play out the same way today (this was 25+ years ago). That clinic, which was independent and stellar, is long gone.  I'm pretty sure most of the places around now would at least be checking my insurance first. 

[nixpix5]

My dad died from a heart attack 48 hours after being released from the hospital. He was a white male. He was run through tests and it wasn't caught.

[Arcadia]

In my area, I have seen “quality of care†more due to which insurance you have rather than skin color. I am Asian but I get better “treatment†due to my husband’s employer plan being on the generous side.

 

My aunt’s son and an uncle died of heart attack which are stress triggered. Not due to any known medical conditions. They were both very affluent and under good medical care but they were in very high stress situations when they passed.

[Lizzie in Ma]

So sad, I loved her on Chicago Fire.

My Mom's only symptom was that her arm hurt for days.  By the time we got her to the ER she was 100% occluded and had months of issues following surgery.

Last August, pre-wedding and in the middle of another crisis my chest hurt and I couldn't breathe.  Left work and went to the ER because I was thinking if I die at my desk my sister will kill me!  She works in the cardiology dept at the hospital as a secretary so when I got there I was very well taken care of.  Huge shocker, it was stress, but I was truly scared at the time.