Jury Awards Olean Man $5 Million

An Olean excavation contractor left permanently paralyzed by an undiagnosed brain aneurysm that led to a massive stroke a decade ago has been awarded $5 million following a three-month malpractice trial in State Supreme Court. Kaleida Health must pay 94 percent of the award to Daniel Oakes. Insurance carriers for Dr. Rajnikant Patel, Oakes’ family doctor, and neurologist Dr. Satish K. Mongia of Jamestown must pay the rest. Oakes was driving with his wife, Lisa, on July 18, 1998, when a brain aneurysm ruptured, causing vomiting and what Oakes described as the worst headache he had ever had. Though the Oakes returned home safely, he experienced vomiting and headaches for three more weeks, even though he went to a number of doctors and had a brain CT scan at Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital on July 23, 1998. Because the hospital then sent the CT scan to an outside agency for review, the ruptured vessel was not detected and led to a massive stroke Aug. 7, 1998, that left him paralyzed and dependent on an electric wheelchair.