Cook County Jury Awards $9.1 Million in Spinal Injury Malpractice Case

A Cook County jury has awarded $9.1 million to Frederick Pleasant and Staci Walker, concluding a two-week trial over a delayed diagnosis that left Pleasant paraplegic. The verdict, delivered June 12 in the Circuit Court of Cook County, centers on a critical 24-hour gap in identifying a spinal cord lesion.

The plaintiffs argued that medical staff failed to diagnose an intramedullary lesion at the T9 level of Pleasant's spine in time to prevent permanent damage. While surgical decompression was eventually performed, the legal team contended that the resulting ischemia caused irreversible spinal cord injury. Defense attorneys countered that the delay was not the fault of the primary care physician and maintained that the medical outcome would not have changed even with an earlier intervention. A treating neurosurgeon supported this stance during the trial, testifying that an earlier diagnosis offered a less than five percent chance of a different clinical result.

Presided over by the Honorable Eileen O'Connor, the proceedings represent the first collaborative trial victory for the Deratany Law Firm and Nolan Law Group. Attorneys Jay Paul Deratany and Thomas P. Routh secured the award, which covers damages resulting from the missed opportunity for timely treatment in Case No. 2024 L 007781.