Surgeon with nine malpractice suits continues operating

In this investigation by the Duluth News Tribune, reporters Brandon Stahl and Mark Stodghill revealed that one of the "highest-paid physicians at St. Luke's," neurosurgeon Stefan Konasiewicz, had a lengthy track record of complaints and malpractice suits. Konasiewicz cut and failed to repair a young woman's aorta during a spinal surgery that resulted in her bleeding to death. The surgeon also mishandled the treatment of an infection that resulted from another spinal surgery. The infection killed the recently retired woman who had plans to travel with her husband. Despite having "nine malpractice suits and a sanction from the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice for “unethical and unprofessional conduct,"" Konasiewicz continued working for St. Luke's for nearly a decade.