Dr. Jonathan Mauser, of Cayuga Cardiology Associates P.C., failed to notice that former Tompkins County District Attorney George Dentes had disease, according to a lawsuit by his widow reported by the Ithaca Journal. The DA had a heart attack and died in October 2006, for which his widow blames the physician.
With the help of a New York injury lawyer, widow Elsie Dentes filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Dr. Jonathan Mauser and his employer claiming he "improperly interpreted [George] Dentes' April 2005 stress echocardiogram." The suit goes on to claim that as a result of not detecting his coronary artery disease and treating it, he suffered a fatal heart attack.
Testimony in the case began last week but attorneys and others connected to the case declined to comment to reporters.
George Dentes, 52 at the time, was just a few steps from his Albany office when he suffered the Oct. 31, 2006 heart attack. He served 16 years as the Tompkins County district attorney until 2005 and then worked with the New York State Prosecutors Training Institute.
The former DA was known for his athleticism and was captain of the Ithaca High School football team. Tompkins County Sheriff Peter Meskill was shocked to learn about his sudden death, citing his apparent good health and the fact that he walked to work nearly every day:
"[He] always seemed fit and well."
Of course, the standard for determining patient fitness and health is much more stringent for physicians. Elsie Dentes claims in her suit that Dr. Jonathan Mauser was negligent for not detecting irregularities from her late husband's stress test, which uses ultrasound to determine how the heart handles stress.
The suit alleges that Elsie Dentes and her late husband's other surviving heirs suffered a financial loss that "exceeds the jurisdictional limits of all lower courts," but did not indicate a specific figure for damages.
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When Doctors Fail to Follow the Differential Diagnosis Method (FindLaw KnowledgeBase)
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