McCarthy v. Safety Insurance

32 Mass. L. Rptr. 557
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedMarch 24, 2015
DocketNo. SUCV201202193C
StatusPublished

This text of 32 Mass. L. Rptr. 557 (McCarthy v. Safety Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McCarthy v. Safety Insurance, 32 Mass. L. Rptr. 557 (Mass. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Gordon, Robert B., J.

BACKGROUND

This case arises out of a December 2010 automobile accident between plaintiff Leo P. McCarthy (“plaintiff’ or “McCarthy”) and Ann Lee Weiner (“Weiner”). McCarthy was injured in the accident, and brought suit against Weiner for negligence and against her insurance company, Safety Insurance (“Safety” or the “insurer”) for claimed unfair settlement practices in violation of G.L.c. 93A, §11 and G.L.c. 176D, §3(9). The negligence claim against Weiner was bifurcated; and, following a three-day trial in this Court, a jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff (net of Personal Injury Protection benefits) in the amount of $16,522.50.

On March 16, 2015, plaintiffs statutory claims against Safety were tried to the undersigned, sitting ■without a jury. Plaintiff called just one adverse witness, Safety called none, and 21 documentary exhibits were admitted into evidence. The credible evidence established the following pertinent facts.

FINDINGS OF FACT

The Accident

On December 8, 2010, McCarthy was involved in an automobile accident in which his car was struck broadside by a vehicle driven by Weiner. Weiner was insured at the time by Safely, and carried liability coverage with a policy limit of $100,000. Weiner notified Safety of the accident on December 9, 2010; and on December 20, 2010, following an investigation by Senior Claims Adjuster Kara Smolinsky, Safety concluded that its insured was 100% at fault.

McCarthy’s Course of Treatment

On December 10,2010, two days after the accident, McCarthy began a course of medical treatments that would span ten months. McCarthy initially sought treatment from his primary care physician, Dr. Keith Nobil, at Family Doctors in Swampscott, Massachusetts. At that time, Dr. Nobil diagnosed McCarthy as having suffered a “mild cervical strain,” and prescribed a pain medication to manage the discomfort of a neck that was described as “a little sore.”

On January 5, 2011, McCarthy returned to Dr. Nobil, complaining of increased pain in his neck and intermittent tingling in his right shoulder. Contemporaneous medical records documented tenderness in McCarthy’s paracervical muscles, prompting Dr. Nobil to increase the dosage of his medication and prescribe physical therapy. McCarthy received periodic physical therapy at Spaulding Hospital between January 10 and March 18, 2011, and reports of these treatments reflect therapeutic progress in addressing his symptoms.

Upon McCarthy’s discharge from physical therapy (following 12 sessions), therapist notes contained in his medical record stated that “(pjatient’s slow progress may indicate premorbid OA in cervical spine that was exacerbated by MVA. Gains have plateaued.” Around the same time, McCarthy returned to Dr. Nobil with complaints of more acute pain that had purportedly been afflicting him for three weeks. During Dr. Nobil’s March 16, 2011 examination of McCarthy, McCarthy reported “mild to moderate discomfort” when he bent his back. An x-ray showed degenerative joint disease, prompting Dr. Nobil to note that “likely his recent MVA set off some ... underlying abnormalities.” Dr. Nobil forecast that McCarthy would continue to make progress if he continued with physical therapy, but that he might have “some residual discomfort.”

On May 27, 2011, McCarthy returned to Dr. Nobil with complaints of a sore neck. Contemporaneous physician notes from this visit indicate that McCarthy’s pain from soreness and stiffness registered “up to a 5 (out of] 10" on bad days, with good and bad days occurring in equal measure. The notes further reflect that McCarthy complained of ”an occasional] sharp pain in the left side of the neck," but Dr. Nobil assessed his condition as “a little better overall than two months ago.”

Dr. Nobil’s notes from his May 27 examination further observed that McCarthy was continuing “to make slow but steady improvement,” and that he was “much better than he was back in December.” Dr. Nobil recorded that McCarthy’s “symptoms are now [558]*558low grade,” but that it “remains uncertain whether he will have some low-grade chronic discomfort” going forward.

On June 27, 2011, and despite the encouraging observations that had been registered the previous month by his primary care doctor, McCarthy met with Dr. Richard M. Ozuna, a neurologist at Sports Medicine North in Peabody, Massachusetts. At that time, Dr. Ozuna’s historical notes state that, since his automobile accident, McCarthy “has had an increasing neck pain as well as numbness on the right cheek down the right side of his neck into the shoulder and down his arm to his elbow ...” Dr. Ozuna’s notes further state that, while McCarthy was “in no apparent distress,” he was “now over six months out from his injury with no significant improvement.” Dr. Ozuna referred McCarthy for an MRI of his cervical spine.

On July 18, 2011, McCarthy was again seen by Dr. Ozuna at Sports Medicine North. On this occasion, Dr. Ozuna diagnosed McCarthy with “neck pain, degenerative disc disease, right upper extremity numbness and paresthesias, and foraminal stenosis.” In his physical examination, however, Dr. Ozuna noted that McCarthy displayed a “full range of motion of his neck with minimal discomfort.” Dr. Ozuna suggested cortisone shots as a treatment option for those symptoms that continued to bother McCarthy; but McCarthy responded that “(hje [was] at this point comfortable •with his degree of pain,” which he described as “minimal.”

On August 26, 2011, McCarthy saw his primary care physician for a follow-up visit regarding his neck. At that time, Dr. Nobil recorded that McCarthy’s “pain is fairly minimal” and “no longer daily” in its occurrence. Dr. Nobil further observed that, because “[h]is symptoms had become fairly minimal now,” he did not “want to proceed -with cortisone injections as he is not bothered that much by this anymore.”

On September 5, 2011, McCarthy received treatment from Dr. Anthony Spartos, a colleague of Dr. Nobil at Family Doctors. At that time, McCarthy presented with what he described as “excruciating neck pain” that had stricken him the prior evening; and, suggesting that this pain might not be related to his automobile accident, McCarthy stated to Dr. Spartos that he thought it might be a nerve problem. Dr. Spartos prescribed pain medication to relieve McCarthy’s symptoms.

McCarthy returned to Family Doctors two days later, on September 7, 2011, and on this occasion saw Dr. Nobil. McCarthy complained that he felt soreness in his left shoulder and pain throughout his neck. McCarthy further reported that his neck rotation was limited, and that this made it hard to drive. Dr. Nobil’s notes state that “[i]f [McCarthy] not having significant improvement in the next few days he will likely need to reinstitute[ ] a course of physical therapy... He will let me know...”

The evidence at trial was that McCarthy did not return to Family Doctors to address his symptoms after September 7, 2011. He consulted neither Dr. Nobil nor Dr. Spartos. McCarthy likewise pursued no further treatment at Sports Medicine North; nor did he receive additional therapy at Spaulding Hospital (or anywhere else) following his September 7, 2011 visit with Dr. Nobil. In these circumstances, the Court finds that McCarthy’s pain symptoms — intermittent and significantly diminished as they were — had by this time improved to a low-grade level where McCarthy was able to manage them without substantial discomfort.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
32 Mass. L. Rptr. 557, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccarthy-v-safety-insurance-masssuperct-2015.