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Suit: Woman Walked In With Headache, Left Hospital Dead

CHICAGO (STMW) - A man filed a negligence suit against a northwest suburban hospital on Friday claiming his wife died after doctors didn't realize her splitting headache required life-saving surgery.

Lorenzo Alba claims that his wife Enriqueta visited Gaston Carrasco, M.D. on Jan. 31, 2009 complaining of headache pain that traveled to her left ear, as well as numbness on the left side of her face, according to a lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

The suit claims Alba told Carrasco she had headaches in the past but the headache she was experiencing at the time was "the worst of her life." The suit claims the symptoms were a scene of a headache and bleed that causes a hemorrhage and is a surgical emergency.

Carrasco did not perform an examination of Alba using an ophthalmoscope, which would have more than likely revealed papilledema, which indicates intercranial pressure of a hemorrhage, the suit said.

The suit claims Carrasco told Alba to walk to nearby St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates for a CT scan and claims he did not inform the hospital that he suspected a brain hemorrhage. Carrasco also knew the hospital did not have a neurosurgeon present that day, was not a tertiary care center and was not properly equipped to treat patients in Alba's condition.

Alba had a massive seizure on Jan. 31, 2009 and as a result of a breach of care, endured a large rupture of an artery, according to the lawsuit.

The suit claims that by the time Alba was examined by a neurosurgeon she had fixed and dilated pupils; no gag, no reflexes; no response to deep painful stimuli; weak vital signs; and indications of brain death. Alba died on Feb. 1, 2009.

The six-count suit claims negligence and also names Westbrook Internal Medicine, S.C. The suit seeks unspecified damages.

Spokespeople for Westbrook Internal Medicine or St. Alexius Medical Center was not immediately available for comment.

© Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2011. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

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