Medical Gaslighting in Colorado: When Doctors Dismiss Serious Symptoms

By lladmin on June 10, 2025

When you visit a doctor, you have every right to be listened to, respected, and taken seriously. Yet, for many patients in Colorado, that trust is broken. Instead of receiving a thorough evaluation, they are met with dismissiveness, disbelief, or outright disregard.

This troubling behavior is known as medical gaslighting. This isn’t just frustrating, it’s dangerous. And in some cases, medical gaslighting can be fatal.

At Leventhal Puga Braley P.C., we represent clients who have been harmed because their medical concerns were ignored. If a doctor ignored symptoms, dismissed your condition, or failed to diagnose you due to bias or negligence, you may have grounds for a dismissed symptoms lawsuit.

What Is Medical Gaslighting?

Medical gaslighting refers to the act of minimizing, invalidating, or disregarding a patient’s symptoms or experiences. This can take many forms:

• Suggesting the symptoms are “all in your head”
• Attributing legitimate complaints to anxiety or stress without proper testing
• Refusing to order diagnostic tests or specialist referrals
• Ignoring a patient’s account in favor of assumptions or stereotypes
• Discharging patients without clear answers or treatment plans

This behavior is not just unethical; when it results in a delayed diagnosis, misdiagnosis, or lack of treatment, it may constitute medical neglect in Colorado.

Real-Life Consequences of Gaslighting in Healthcare

When doctors dismiss or minimize serious symptoms, the consequences can be catastrophic:

• Cancer misdiagnosis: Early signs are brushed off as benign, leading to advanced-stage detection.
• Heart attacks in women: Symptoms like nausea or fatigue are mislabeled as anxiety.
• Autoimmune diseases: Conditions like lupus or MS are notoriously underdiagnosed due to vague or fluctuating symptoms.
• Chronic pain conditions: Fibromyalgia and endometriosis are often invalidated, leaving patients untreated for years.

In many of these cases, the delay in treatment worsens outcomes. Patients endure unnecessary pain, face more invasive treatments, or even die from conditions that could have been managed or cured.

Gender Bias in Medicine and Dismissed Symptoms

Gender bias in medicine is one of the most documented drivers of medical gaslighting. Women, in particular, are more likely to have their symptoms attributed to emotional or psychological causes. Studies show that female patients are:

• Less likely to receive pain medication
• More likely to have their heart attack symptoms misdiagnosed
• Often dismissed when reporting fatigue, dizziness, or gastrointestinal distress

Nonbinary patients and people of color also face disproportionately high rates of medical gaslighting.

How Misdiagnosis Due to Gaslighting Occurs

Gaslighting often results in misdiagnosis due to dismissal rather than an honest error. For example:

• A patient complains of severe abdominal pain. The doctor presumes anxiety and does not order imaging. A week later, the patient is hospitalized with a ruptured appendix.
• A woman presents with chest pressure and nausea. She is sent home with antacids. Hours later, she suffers a heart attack.
• A teenager reports persistent fatigue and weight loss. The doctor attributes it to “teen stress.” Later, leukemia is diagnosed in the emergency room.

When symptoms are ignored, not taken seriously, or attributed to the wrong cause without proper evaluation, it can lead to lasting harm or worse.

Legal Accountability for Medical Gaslighting

In Colorado, healthcare providers owe patients a duty of care. If they violate this duty by failing to investigate reported symptoms, and that failure leads to harm, the patient may have grounds for a dismissed symptoms lawsuit.

For a plaintiff to prove malpractice related to gaslighting, they must show:

1. A doctor-patient relationship existed
2. The doctor failed to meet the standard of care by dismissing symptoms or refusing evaluation
3. This breach caused injury or a worsened condition
4. Damages resulted (medical costs, pain, loss of income, etc.)

These cases are complex but winnable, especially with the help of medical experts who can testify about what a competent provider should have done differently.

Signs You May Be a Victim of Medical Gaslighting

Not every misdiagnosis results from gaslighting, but red flags include:

• Your doctor repeatedly interrupts or talks over you
• You’re told your symptoms are “normal for your age” without examination
• Tests are denied without explanation
• Your concerns are met with eye rolls, sarcasm, or blame
• Multiple providers give conflicting opinions without clear reasoning

Trust your instincts. If you leave appointments feeling dismissed, shamed, or confused—especially if your condition is worsening—it’s time to seek a second opinion and consult a legal professional.

What Damages Can Be Recovered?

Victims of misdiagnosis due to gaslighting or medical neglect may be entitled to compensation for:

• Medical expenses (past and future)
• Lost wages and diminished earning capacity
• Pain and suffering
• Mental and emotional distress
• Loss of consortium (impact on relationships)

In tragic cases where delayed diagnosis results in wrongful death, surviving families may also seek compensation for funeral costs, loss of companionship, and more.

Steps to Take If You Believe You Were Gaslighted

1. Request your medical records. This will document what symptoms you reported and how the provider responded.
2. Get a second opinion. If another doctor finds a serious condition that was previously dismissed, you may have proof of negligence.
3. Avoid signing waivers or releases. Don’t sign anything from the hospital or provider until you’ve spoken to an attorney.
4. Contact an experienced malpractice lawyer. You need a legal team that understands both the medical and legal sides of your case.

Why Choose Leventhal Puga Braley P.C.?

At Leventhal Puga Braley P.C., we specialize in serious and complex medical malpractice cases, including claims stemming from medical gaslighting in Colorado. Our legal team:

• Has decades of experience in trial litigation for medical neglect
• Is consistently recognized by Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America
• Has won some of Colorado’s largest verdicts for victims of delayed diagnosis and improper treatment
• Offers no-charge initial consultations and takes cases on a contingency basis

When doctors ignore symptoms and violate the trust patients place in them, we hold them accountable.

Speak with an Experienced Denver Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today

If a doctor ignored your symptoms and you were harmed as a result, you deserve answers and justice. At Leventhal Puga Braley P.C., we fight for individuals whose concerns were dismissed and whose health was jeopardized by negligence and bias.

Call our Denver medical malpractice lawyers today at (303) 759-9945 or toll-free at (877) 433-3906 to schedule your no-charge initial consultation. We serve patients across Colorado and nationwide in complex medical negligence claims lawsuits.