The Minnesota Court of Appeals recently affirmed a defense verdict obtained by Paul Peterson in a medical malpractice trial. Bill Davidson and João Medeiros assisted Peterson in defending the appeal. The Plaintiff alleged severe disabilities after sustaining a stroke in the hospital.  The plaintiff alleged that the stroke occurred due to the doctors’ failure to properly regulate his high blood pressure.  The defense alleged that the treatment provided met the standard of care, and that plaintiff’s stroke and related complications were brought on by many years of alcohol abuse. On appeal, the patient argued that the district court should not have allowed the treating doctors to introduce evidence that his alcohol abuse had caused the complications. The Court of Appeals disagreed, and stated that the district court properly admitted the evidence, and the jury appropriately applied it.