The wife of a Cheshire man is suing Connecticut healthcare providers based in New Haven and Meriden, contending doctors failed to diagnose the disease that killed the man
Filed in state Superior Court in New Haven, the complaint by Sarah Bernstein as an individual and administrator of her husband’s estate says Andrew Phillip Bernstein “tragically died at only 50 years old due to defendants’ repeated failure to recognize obvious signs and symptoms of Myasthenia Gravis.”
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Defendants include Yale New Haven Hospital, Midstate Medical Center and Hartford HealthCare Corp
Myasthenia gravis, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, is a chronic neuromuscular disease that causes weakness in muscles needed for movement, breathing and swallowing. It is an autoimmune disease, which means the body’s defense system mistakenly attacks healthy cells or proteins, the description says. There is no cure for the disease, according to the Institute, but it is treatable, as the lawsuit also notes
Due to the defendants’ negligence, however, Bernstein’s myasthenia gravis “was never diagnosed, treated, or managed, and ultimately lead to a myasthenic crisis that resulted in Mr. Bernstein’s untimely death,” the suit claims
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“Yale New Haven Health extends our sincere condolences to the family for their loss,” the healthcare company said in a statement Monday. “The physicians and caregivers at Yale New Haven Hospital work every day to provide thoughtful, high-quality care to patients facing complex medical conditions. Although we cannot address the specific allegations because the case is in litigation, we stand behind the care provided by our team and will respond through the appropriate legal process.”
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A spokesperson for Hartford HealthCare did not reply immediately
Bernstein, a married father of two children, was evaluated on Feb. 1, 2024, at Yale New Haven Hospital’s emergency room for progressive lower extremity weakness and an unsteady gait and admitted to the hospital on Feb. 2, the suit says. Imaging technology confirmed a 3.2-cm, partially calcified soft-tissue mass in Bernstein’s chest, which was “highly indicative” of a tumor associated with myasthenia gravis, the suit says.
“The clinical significance of this finding were (sic) never recognized by the neurologists caring for and treating Mr. Bernstein,” the suit says
A neurologist attributed the tumor and Bernstein’s symptoms to acute renal failure and uncontrolled diabetes and found that Bernstein had “no acute neurological problem,” the suit says
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Bernstein was discharged on Feb. 7 and evaluated again by a Yale neurologist, Dr. Safa Elnazer, as an outpatient on Feb. 14, the complaint says. Elnazer, the suit says, “failed to order appropriate testing to rule out Myasthenia Gravis as the cause of Mr. Bernstein’s symptoms.”
On Feb. 25, Bernstein was seen by Dr. Felix Pacheco at MidState Medical Center in Meriden, part of Hartford HealthCare, for trouble swallowing, the suit says. Pacheco concluded that Bernstein’s symptoms were likely the result of anxiety and he was sent home about six hours after arriving at the emergency room, the suit says
Bernstein suffered acute respiratory failure and cardiac arrest on Feb. 26 and was admitted to the Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain, the suit says. Bernstein died at the hospital on March 1 “as a result of complications from Myasthenia Gravis,” the suit says
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Filed by attorneys with Stamford-based Silver, Golub & Teitell, LLP, the lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory damages of more than $15,000
