DANBURY, Conn. (WCBS 880/AP)  -- A lawsuit has been filed against Danbury Hospital by a doctor who worked at the hospital for more than three decades.
   
Dr. Stanley Saperstein, who died in August 2007 at age 64 from throat cancer, is suing the hospital and one of its physicians, saying a pre-cancerous condition in 1999 was misdiagnosed and cost him his life.

Saperstein filed the suit before he died.

WCBS Reporter Fran Schneidau spoke with the Saperstein's attorney.

"Obviously it was a difficult decision for him to make, to bring a lawsuit against his hospital," said Carey Reilly.

Schneidau reports the hospital claims the statute of limitations had run out by the time the lawsuit was filed. Reilly argues there was no way the Dr. Saperstein could have filed any sooner.
   
The lawsuit claims Dr. Beatriz Cuello, a pathologist at the hospital, should have recognized Saperstein had pre-cancerous growths on his throat. Cuello signed a report diagnosing Saperstein with a simpler, non-cancerous condition.
   
A hospital spokesperson says the hospital cannot comment specifically on Saperstein's care.
   
The lawsuit has been filed in Waterbury Superior Court.