$9.1 Million Awarded For Spinal Injury
A man in Minneapolis has been awarded a $9.1 million dollar settlement in a medical malpractice case against North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale.
Joseph Lakoskey, a local mechanic, was taken to the hospital for flu-like symptoms and received fluids to treat his severe dehydration symptoms. Soon after, his diagnosis was changed to “perforate bowel” and fluids were discontinued so that anesthesia could be administered and he could be prepared for surgery.
Lakoskey's lawyers argued that the severe dehydration, which doctors had stopped treating, csued a dangerous drop in blood pressure cutting his spinal cord off from blood. The inadequate blood flow to the spine, in turn, caused paralysis in Lakoskey's legs leaving him unable to walk.
Lakoskey hopes that the settlement will help him pay for physical therapy and living costs, since he had to close his business after losing the use of his legs.