The Region - News from Oct. 16, 1986

A young man who survived a high-speed motorcycle accident but then claimed that his spinal cord was severed while he was being treated in a hospital emergency room has agreed to a $3.8-million settlement of his medical malpractice lawsuit. Thomas Michael Abbott, who was 21 and intoxicated at the time of the 1984 freeway accident, was rendered a paraplegic. He will receive $125,000 in cash and $2,500 per mont1746953839attorney, Philip S. Cifarelli. “He’s anxious to be self-sufficient,” Cifarelli said. “He wants to buy a specially equipped van . . . This will help.”