In April 2011, the plaintiff, a 65-year-old retired businessman, elected to have a routine kyphoplasty performed by a neurosurgeon to address a compression fracture of a cervical vertebra. During the procedure, the neurosurgeon accidentally perforated the spinal canal during surgery, rendering the patient a paraplegic. The patient sued the neurosurgeon for failing to properly perform the surgery, alleging that this failure constituted medical malpractice. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that the neurosurgeon entered the wrong cervical space and pierced the spinal cord. Thus, counsel asserted that the error breached the standard of care., The patient’s spinal canal at the cervical level was severed, rendering him paralyzed from the waist down. As a result of his paraplegia, the plaintiff claimed that he now requires 24/7 care. However, he did not undergo any physical therapy.