Paul Allen Frumkin v. Mayo Clinic, Paul Allen Frumkin v. Mayo Clinic

JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge.

The Mayo Clinic appeals from a judgment entered against it after a second jury trial on Paul A. Frumkin’s medical malpractice claim. Mayo doctors had performed surgery on Frumkin to relieve severe and chronic headache pain. Following the surgery, which involved severing a major nerve, Frumkin complained of a side effect called “anesthesia dolorosa,” in which the absence of sensation is experienced as pain. After filing suit, Frumkin threatened the lives of two Mayo physicians who were to testify at trial. Mayo moved to dismiss based on these threats; the district…