| Osorio v Rahman |
| 2009 NY Slip Op 51697(U) [24 Misc 3d 141(A)] |
| Decided on August 4, 2009 |
| Appellate Term, First Department |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports. |
Defendant appeals from an order of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Bronx County
(Raul Cruz, J.), entered June 10, 2008, which denied his motion for summary judgment
dismissing the complaint.
Per Curiam.
Order (Raul Cruz, J.), entered June 10, 2008, reversed, with $10 costs, motion granted and
complaint dismissed. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment accordingly.
Defendant established prima facie that plaintiff did not sustain a serious injury (see
Insurance Law �5102[d]), through the affirmed medical reports of an orthopedist, who on
examination quantified normal ranges of motion in plaintiff's lumbar and cervical spine,
shoulders and left knee, and a radiologist, who opined that MRIs conducted after the vehicular
accident revealed degenerative changes in plaintiff's lumbar spine and no post-traumatic injuries
to her knee. In opposition, plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue. While plaintiff submitted
evidence of bulging and/or herniated discs in her lumbar and cervical spine, and excess fluid in
her knee, she failed to submit medical evidence showing the extent of range of motion
limitations at the time of the accident (see Ali v Khan, 50 AD3d 454 [2008]). The only
evidence of limitations is contained in a report of an orthopedist who examined plaintiff
four-and-a-half years after the accident, too remote in time to raise an issue of fact as to whether
the limitations were caused by the accident (see Lopez v Simpson, 39 AD3d 420 [2007]).
Without objective findings of limitations contemporaneous with the accident, plaintiff's
allegations that she had difficulty engaging in certain activities are insufficient to raise a triable
issue on her 90/180-day claim (see Brantley v New York City Metro. Tr. Auth., 48
AD3d 313 [2008]), particularly where she admittedly was confined to her home for only two
days and returned to work two weeks after the accident.
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT.
Decision Date: August 04, 2009