Walter Mankowski was diagnosed with Stage IV gastric carcinoma that had spread to his liver. Mankowski was 63 years old on March 3, 2009 when he was given that poor outlook diagnosis.
His treating oncologist told him that he had about 10 months to live with chemotherapy. His family searched for alternative treatment options and found the defendant, Keith Nemec, D.C., after doing an internet search. The defendant doctor Nemec, a chiropractor, had a website that claimed that “treatment at his facility could cure any and all diseases, including cancer by restoring the body to its natural state so God says that could cure the disease.”
Mankowski and his family decided to defer chemotherapy and instead he was admitted to the Total Health Institute in Wheaton, Ill., Nemec’s clinic, on March 23, 2009. Mankowski was there for a 3-4 week inpatient program. His treatment consisted of colonic hydrotherapy supplements that were designed to cleanse the body and a restricted diet of seed milk, vegetable juice and spinach soup.
After 6 days of this treatment, Mankowski suffered severe diarrhea, confusion and profound weakness. His son took him to Skokie Hospital on March 30, 2009 where he was admitted with acute renal failure. His kidney function had been normal when he entered the defendant’s facility a week earlier.
At Skokie Hospital, dialysis attempts were unsuccessful and Mankowski died of respiratory distress secondary to acute renal failure on April 7, 2009. He was survived by his wife and three adult children.
At the jury trial, the family’s experts testified that the treatments given to Mankowski by the defendants — the Total Health Institute, P.C. and Dr. Nemec — were the cause of this acute renal failure. The family argued that the defendant chiropractor Nemec never reviewed any of Mankowski’s medical records regarding his condition, did not discuss the proposed treatment plan with his treating physicians, chose not to properly monitor his condition at the clinic and chose not to notice his deteriorating medical condition. It was also maintained that the defendants did not correctly monitor his failing condition and chose not to transfer him to a hospital in a timely fashion.
The defendants argued that Dr. Nemec complied with the standard of care, none of the treatments administered by the defendants had any adverse affects on the patient’s condition and that the acute renal failure was caused by hepatorenal syndrome as a direct result of his advanced stage metastatic liver cancer. The defendants’ post-trial motion was denied. An appeal is pending.
The jury’s verdict of $2,522,847 was against both the defendant doctor and the Total Health Institute, P.C., Nemec’s business, for loss of society.
The attorneys representing the Walter Mankowski family were Margaret Morrison Borcia and Donald J. Morrison. Before trial, the demand to settle the case was $1 million. The offer was $50,000.
Estate of Walter Mankowski, deceased v. Keith Nemec, D.C., Total Health Institute, P.C., No. 11 L 276 (Lake County, Illinois)
Kreisman Law Offices has been handling medical negligence cases for individuals and families who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of a medical provider for more than 38 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Mount Prospect, Prospect Heights, Zion, Burr Ridge, Waukegan, Round Lake Beach, Grayslake, Bensenville, Arlington Heights, Joliet, Western Springs and Palos Heights, Illinois.
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