April 16, 2013

Shahid Mian, M.D., P.C. v Interboro Ins. Co. (2013 NY Slip Op 50589(U))

Headnote

The court considered the defendant-insurer's motion for summary judgment to dismiss the complaint or compel discovery. The main issue decided was whether the plaintiff had raised a material issue requiring a trial of its claim for assigned no-fault first-party benefits, as the defendant had shown that the assignor's treated medical condition was not causally related to the underlying motor vehicle accident. The holding of the court was that the defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint was granted, as the plaintiff had failed to raise a material issue requiring a trial of its claim for assigned no-fault first-party benefits. The court found that the plaintiff's principal, an orthopedist who performed the surgical procedure giving rise to the no-fault action, had provided an insufficient affidavit that failed to set forth a factual basis for his conclusion on the critical causation issue, and had not addressed or rebutted the contrary findings made by defendant's medical experts.

Reported in New York Official Reports at Shahid Mian, M.D., P.C. v Interboro Ins. Co. (2013 NY Slip Op 50589(U))

Shahid Mian, M.D., P.C. v Interboro Ins. Co. (2013 NY Slip Op 50589(U)) [*1]

Shahid Mian, M.D., P.C. v Interboro Ins. Co.

2013 NY Slip Op 50589(U) [39 Misc 3d 135(A)]

Decided on April 16, 2013

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This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.

Decided on April 16, 2013

SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE TERM, FIRST DEPARTMENT

PRESENT: Schoenfeld, J.P., Hunter, Jr., Torres, JJ
.

Shahid Mian, M.D., P.C.571026/12 Plaintiff-Respondent, – –
against
Interboro Insurance Company, Defendant-Appellant.

Defendant, as limited by its brief, appeals from so much of an order of the Civil Court of the City of New York, New York County (Andrea Masley, J.), entered October 15, 2012, as denied its motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint or, alternatively, to compel discovery.

Per Curiam.

Order (Andrea Masley, J.), entered October 15, 2012, reversed, without costs, and defendant’s motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint is granted. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment accordingly.

In opposition to the defendant-insurer’s prima facie showing that the assignor’s treated medical condition was not causally related to the underlying motor vehicle accident (see Mount Sinai Hosp. v Triboro Coach, 263 AD2d 11, 19-20 [1999]), plaintiff failed to raise a material issue requiring a trial of its claim for assigned no-fault first-party benefits. The bare bones affidavit filed by plaintiff’s principal, an orthopedist who performed the surgical procedure giving rise to this no-fault action, was insufficient to defeat summary judgment. The affiant failed to set forth a factual basis for his single-sentence conclusion on the critical causation issue, and did not address, let alone rebut, the contrary findings made by defendant’s medical experts. We note plaintiff’s failure to file a respondent’s brief on appeal.

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT.
Decision Date: April 16, 2013