Essentia Health Ordered to Pay Bayfield County Family $19 Million for Medical Malpractice
By Tom Olsen
A jury in Bayfield County, Wisconsin, awarded the Galligan family $18.93 million in a case involving injuries suffered by Johnny Galligan eight days after his birth in 2013. That is likely one of the biggest medical malpractice verdicts in Northwestern Wisconsin. The jury found Duluth, Minnesota-based Essentia Health 100% liable for the permanent brain injuries he sustained after staff at Essentia Health-Ashland Clinic failed to diagnose that he was suffering from bacterial meningitis. The family’s attorney, Garrett Gondik of Gondik Law, S.C., said 10-year-old Johnny is confined to a wheelchair, unable to walk or speak, and is almost completely deaf and blind. He also has a shortened life expectancy. Dr. Andrew Snider of Ashland Clinic was named as a defendant but was cleared of negligence by the jury. According to Gondik, “It was like a systemic failure. It was a lack of communication — miscommunication, bad handling of information on the staff's part. And (the jury) thought it wasn't Snider's fault, but that he was put in a bad spot because of the lack of communication, which of course caused this injury.” The award includes $7.5 million for parents Steven and Alina Galligan for their son’s future medical expenses and $5 million for their loss of society and companionship, as well as $1 million for Johnny for past pain, suffering, and disability; $1.3 million for future damages in that category; $2 million in past medical expenses; and $1.2 million for the loss of future earning capacity. Further litigation is possible, according to an Essentia spokesperson.
Read more on the Duluth News Tribune.