WHO: Maria Osorio
WHAT: A TV ad offering $15 mammograms last Valentine’s Day drew Maria Osorio, 54, to Harlem Hospital, where a nurse also gave her a free instant cheek swab and blood test. That’s when the New Jersey home health aide was told she had HIV, and she immediately accused her husband of 37 years, Gabriel Lezcano, 60, of transmitting the sexual virus from other women.
WORSE NEWS: A few days later, the hospital called again to say her disease was terminal and very advanced — and she also had hepatitis and herpes. Osorio stopped sleeping, threw up constantly and couldn’t work. She planned to drown herself at the beach that summer. She and her husband both became addicted to sleeping pills and moved to separate rooms.
THE REPRIEVE: When she told nurses she had no medical problems whatsoever, they replied, “This machine does not lie.” Then, almost three weeks later, the hospital called to say she was perfectly healthy. No one apologized or admitted to a mistake. Some nurses called it a miracle.
WHAT’S BEING DONE: Osorio has filed a medical malpractice notice of claim against New York City with the state Supreme Court.
