A widow has filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging medical malpractice by a Connecticut cardiologist that led to the death of her 32-year-old husband.
Samuel Alejandro, Jr. suffered cardiac arrest just the day before he was scheduled to undergo a test to determine the cause of worsening chest pain and shortness of breath he had been suffering for months, his wife said in the lawsuit filed against Starling Physicians and its cardiologist, Dr. Mohamed Reza Mansoor.
A message left with Mansour’s office was not returned. The parent company that acquired Starling Physicians in 2023 also responded to a request for comment.
Alejandro, former baseball player Fisher College Boston, Massachusetts was pronounced dead at Manchester Memorial Hospital on October 23, 2024.
Alejandro’s wife filed a lawsuit alleging medical malpractice that led to her late husband being scheduled for an echocardiogram and stress test on October 2, 2024, about three weeks after seeing Mansour at his Glastonbury office. It was his third and final visit to the doctor in about five weeks for chest pain and breathing problems. Despite the abnormal electrocardiogram (EKG), Alejandro “never” was told by Mansour or anyone in his office that the test should be performed “urgently or within a designated time period,” the complaint alleges.
An autopsy found Alejandro’s cause of death was a pulmonary embolism caused by an “unknown type of hypercoagulable state” — a condition the complaint says should have been detected through immediate testing.
“It’s very likely that he will receive anticoagulants … and survive,” said attorney Kelly E. Reardon of Reardon Law Firm, P.C.
Reardon, who filed the lawsuit in New London Superior Court on behalf of Alejandro’s wife, said she consulted with a medical professional and concluded that the 32-year-old Alejandro’s condition should have been diagnosed.
The lawsuit claims Mansour failed to properly diagnose Alejandro’s life-threatening condition and order immediate testing. The lawsuit alleges that alleged negligence and deviation from accepted standards of care expected by doctors cost him his life.
“This is completely devastating to his wife,” Reardon said, adding that the couple planned to start a family and build a life together.
The civil lawsuit seeks more than $15,000 in monetary damages, but Reardon said it’s much more than that for Alejandro’s wife.
“It affects her, it affects his family, his parents, his siblings, it’s just a nightmare,” Reardon said.
“I can tell you, I’ve never had a client say to me that their goal was to make money,” she said. “The goal of almost everyone I represent is to make sure this mistake, this mistake, is fixed and this type of mistake doesn’t happen again and hurt other people.”
Alejandro first went to the urgent care clinic on Aug. 19, 2024, and complained of increased episodes of shortness of breath, significant discomfort on the left side of his chest, heavy breathing when going up and down stairs, and back pain radiating to the left side for two weeks, the lawsuit states. He underwent a chest X-ray and was released.
On Sept. 25, 2024, Alejandro returned to the urgent care clinic again complaining of shortness of breath and chest pain, the lawsuit states. He was referred to a cardiologist after an abnormal electrocardiogram, the complaint states. The physician assistant who saw Alejandro wrote in his records that his differential diagnoses included pulmonary embolism and acute coronary syndrome and made an appointment for him with Mansour, the lawsuit said.
During the meeting with Mansour, Alejandro was allegedly diagnosed with chest pain, difficulty breathing, a heart murmur and an abnormal electrocardiogram, the lawsuit states. The day before the test, he allegedly experienced severe shortness of breath, difficulty breathing and chest pain and called 911, the lawsuit states. He went into cardiac arrest and became unresponsive and was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
“Unfortunately, there are a lot of conditions in the world today that require urgent medical care that are not treated urgently,” Reardon said. “Why that is, I don’t know, but it should obviously have been recognized that this was not a normal medical problem, but an emergency. Would waiting three weeks for a test have revealed that he needed medication immediately? It should have been recognized and it would have saved his life.”
Alejandro was born in Hartford and graduated from East Hartford High School, according to his obituary. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Fisher College in 2013, where he played four seasons of baseball.
“He was a remarkable man known for his dedication, sportsmanship, friendship and the positive impact he had on those who knew him,” the college’s baseball team wrote in a Facebook post.
According to the obituary, Alejandro went on to “have a thriving career with Aetna and Anthem Insurance, work as a real estate agent and pursue his passion for real estate photography.”
“His drive and dedication were evident in all aspects of his work and life,” the obituary said.
Alejandro was also an active member of the Manchester Church of the Eternal God, and he and his wife had “a strong faith and devotion to the community,” the obituary said. “He will be remembered for his warm spirit, unwavering work ethic and the deep love he shared with his family and friends.”