Faulty skull

Berlin, Aug. 30 (Reuters): A German court has awarded $4,100 in damages to a man who had to have the top of his skull replaced with plastic because of a faulty hospital fridge.

Doctors removed the top of the man’s head and put it in cold storage while they operated on his brain, the court in the western city of Koblenz said on Tuesday. Because the refrigerator was defective, the section of skull was not kept cool enough and could not be reattached. Doctors replaced the bone with a plastic prosthesis.

The man sought compensation of at least 20,000 euros on the grounds that the prosthesis caused him headaches, affected his balance and made him unduly sensitive to the weather.