Docs sued over heart condition, Woman claims they recommended she stop meds, which then led to 2 heart attacks and a transplant

Ann Givens. Newsday Staff Writer

Joan Gallant said she came to doctors four years ago with heartburn but eventually wound up with a heart transplant.

Now Gallant, 57, of Southampton, has filed a lawsuit against two doctors who treated her, saying they misdiagnosed her. The trial began yesterday before State Supreme Court Justice Dana Winslow in Mineola.

"It's been nothing short of horrible," said Gallant, who has adjusted well to the new heart she has named "Emmanuella."

"Learning to walk again, learning to eat again. These are things you take for granted that I could not do."

Gallant is suing doctors John O'Connor and John Pearson, both of Riverhead, saying that after she visited them with heartburn, they told her to stop taking her anti-clotting medication. That decision led quickly to two heart attacks and then the transplant, she said. She is suing them for past and future medical expenses, as well as pain and suffering. Damages could total more than $10 million.

Lawyers for O'Connor and Pearson said the two acted cautiously and relied upon the advice of other specialists, as well as their own expertise.

"He [Pearson] made a judgment for what he believed was her best benefit under the circumstances," said his attorney, Robert Devine of Mineola. O'Connor relied on the opinions of cardiologists who said the medication should be stopped, his attorney Timothy Slattery, of New Hyde Park, said in court.

Gallant, a Realtor, went to see O'Connor for chest pain in April 2001, just over a week after having a stent put in one of her arteries to clear a blockage there, according to attorneys on both sides.

All evidence pointed to a simple case of heartburn, which Gallant had suffered from for years, and Pearson even noted that in his records, said Gallant's lawyer, Robert Danzi of Westbury.

Still, Pearson, a cardiologist, took Gallant off Plavix and aspirin, which she took to prevent blood from clotting around her new stent, Danzi said.

Devine said Pearson had reason to believe Gallant might be bleeding internally, and took Gallant off the pills because he feared that the anti-clotting medications were making things worse. After a three-day hospital stay, O'Connor, Gallant's primary care doctor, discharged her from the hospital without putting her back on the medicine, attorneys on both sides said.

Danzi said there was no evidence that Gallant was bleeding internally and taking her off the medication was a major error.

Shortly after being released, Gallant had two heart attacks, days apart. Danzi said it was a direct result of her doctors' bad decision.

Gallant's heart was shocked into action dozens of times, leaving blisters on her chest. Doctors, who were looking for a heart donor, left her chest cavity open and used a machine to keep it beating, Danzi said.

Gallant's daughter was told to say goodbye to her mother, and a priest gave her last rites, Danzi said.

Finally, on Sept. 13, 2001, Gallant received a heart from a young woman who had been shot to death.

Gallant named her new heart "Emmanuella," after being told that people who are kind to their new hearts have a better chance of surviving with them.

"I would say, 'Come on Emmanuella! We can do it! We're a team!'" said Gallant.

Gallant, who is slowly relearning her real estate job, said she fiercely fought her way back and will not stop fighting now to vindicate the wrong she believes was done to her.

"I'm never going to give up," she said.