| Anania v Verdgeline |
| 2007 NY Slip Op 09290 [45 AD3d 1473] |
| November 23, 2007 |
| Appellate Division, Fourth Department |
| Mark Anania, Sr., Appellant, v Louis Verdgeline,Respondent. |
—[*1] Sugarman Law Firm, LLP, Syracuse (Rebecca A. Crance of counsel), fordefendant-respondent.
Appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Oneida County (Norman I. Siegel, A.J.), enteredMay 24, 2006 in a personal injury action. The order granted defendant's motion for summaryjudgment dismissing the complaint.
It is hereby ordered that the order so appealed from be and the same hereby is unanimouslyaffirmed without costs.
Memorandum: Plaintiff commenced this action seeking damages for injuries he sustainedwhen the vehicle he was driving was rear-ended by a vehicle driven by defendant. Supreme Courtproperly granted defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint on theground that plaintiff did not sustain a serious injury within the meaning of Insurance Law §5102 (d). Defendant met his initial burden by submitting numerous records and reports ofplaintiff's treating physicians indicating that plaintiff's alleged injuries were related to injuriessuffered in two workplace accidents, one that occurred before and one that occurred after theaccident at issue herein. "Because defendant submitted 'persuasive evidence that plaintiff'salleged pain and injuries were related to a preexisting condition [and an intervening medicalproblem], plaintiff had the burden to come forward with evidence addressing defendant's claimedlack of causation' " (Clark v Perry,21 AD3d 1373, 1374 [2005], quoting Pommells v Perez, 4 NY3d 566, 580; see also McCarthy v Bellamy, 39AD3d 1166 [2007]), and plaintiff failed to meet that burden. Plaintiff's submissions inopposition to the motion did not "adequately address how plaintiff's current medical problems, inlight of [plaintiff's] past medical history, are causally related to the subject accident" (Style v Joseph, 32 AD3d 212, 214[2006]). Although plaintiff's orthopedic surgeon stated that plaintiff's right carpal tunnelsyndrome and resulting surgery approximately four years after the accident at issue herein werecausally related to the accident, that surgeon's opinion was not supported by the requisite "'competent medical evidence based upon objective medical findings and diagnostic tests' " (Yoonessi v Givens, 39 AD3d1164, 1165 [2007]). Present—Scudder, P.J., Gorski, Centra, Fahey and Green, JJ.