HARTFORD, Conn. (Legal Newsline) – A recent Connecticut Supreme Court ruling backs a jury’s $93,000 verdict for a man who tripped and landed on his face on a Bridgeport sidewalk.
Though the defense argued it was wrong to include as evidence the report of the treating physician assistant of plaintiff Victor DeMaria, the court found otherwise – despite the PA being unable to be cross-examined.
Miriam Vitale’s report for DeMaria’s medical file concluded his permanent injuries likely were caused by his 2014 fall, but because staff at the Department of Veterans Affair can’t provide opinion or expert testimony in court, Bridgeport’s attorneys couldn’t cross-examine her.
The trial court allowed Vitale’s report to be introduced anyway, a decision overturned by the state’s Appellate Court. However, the Supreme Court earlier this year reinstated the trial court ruling.
We conclude that the medical records that were created in the ordinary course of diagnosing, caring for and treating the plaintiff were admissible pursuant to § 52-174 (b), even if there was no opportunity to cross-examine the records’ author,” Justice Richard Robinson wrote.
“Because the defendant made no claim and presented no evidence at trial that Vitale prepared the final report exclusively for use in litigation, rather than in the ordinary course of providing care and treatment to the plaintiff, and the trial court accordingly made no finding on that point, we conclude that the Appellate Court incorrectly determined that the plaintiff’s medical records were inadmissible.”
DeMaria caught his foot on a raised portion of sidewalk in Bridgeport. He fell forward onto his face and hands, leaving him with a broken nose and finger on his left hand.
Two months later, he experienced a burning sensation in his left arm, weakened grip strength and a limited range of motion in his left hand. After years of treatment, Vitale’s “Final Report of Injury” said he was as rehabbed as much as he was going to be.
Unfortunately for DeMaria, her report said he retained only 47% of his former grip strength and continued to experience pain in his left hand.
“These injuries were caused with a reasonable degree of medical certainty by the March 27, 2014 accident,” the report said.
After a three-day trial, the jury awarded $15,295.47 in economic damages and $77,500 in noneconomic damages. The Supreme Court’s decision affirms that verdict.