Press Conference with Plaintiffs in $14 Million Yasmin Verdict at Clifford Law Offices

A press conference was held  on Saturday, April 19, 2014 at Clifford Law Offices with Mariola and Rafal Zapalski, plaintiffs in the $14 million verdict in Cook County Circuit Court. Bradley M. Cosgrove, partner at Clifford Law Offices, along with associate Sarah F. King obtained a $14 million verdict Friday (April 18, 2014) against the prescribing doctor on behalf of a 37-year-old Chicago woman who suffered a severe disabling stroke 13 days after starting the birth control medication Yasmin. Mariola Zapalski, originally from Poland and now of Elmwood Park, was prescribed the controversial birth control medication by Dr. Zbigniew Aniol of Chicago. After taking the medication for less than two weeks, she suffered a severe debilitating stroke that paralyzed her entire left side, resulting in the loss of use of her arm and leg. She also sustained profound and permanent brain injury. She is now wheelchair bound and requires 24-hour round-the-clock care. The two-week trial was held before Cook County Circuit Court Judge Edward Washington II with a four-woman-eight-man jury. Yasmin has been under attack by medical professionals in the past several years for severe side effects including causing strokes in young women. Cosgrove reached a $2.5 million settlement against the hospital, Resurrection Medical Center, about a month ago in this same matter.