After a 3 day jury trial before the Honorable Roslyn Robinson of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia, a verdict was rendered in the amount of $14,556.00. Up until trial, Plaintiff’s settlement demand was $225,000.00. At trial, Plaintiff reduced the demand to $100,000.00, the insurance policy limit. The offer was $15,000.00 before trial and was not increased.
Defendant parked her rental vehicle at a Sunoco gas station and left the scene. Pursuant to the testimony of a Police Officer and Plaintiff, the vehicle was left in park, but began to roll and struck Plaintiff’s vehicle. The full tort Plaintiff did not complain of pain or injury to the police. She did not request an ambulance. Plaintiff’s vehicle was drivable from the scene. Plaintiff testified that she began experiencing symptoms in the left shoulder later that day. She was treated and released at the ER. Thereafter, she was referred to Dr. Huffman at Pennsylvania Hospital. No injections were administered. Plaintiff reported that she underwent physical therapy on 8-9 occasions which was helpful. Plaintiff alleged that Dr. Huffman, purportedly, recommended left shoulder surgery and had it scheduled. However, an issue involving Plaintiff’s pacemaker, allegedly, prevented cardiac clearance.
The defense medical expert testified, at length, that Plaintiff provided poor and minimal effort during physical examination. The films demonstrated arthritic changes of the AC joint with mild tenderness. A CT arthrogram revealed that the rotator cuff was intact. While there appeared to be some AC joint arthrosis, there was no evidence of full thickness rotator cuff tear. The defense expert opined the Plaintiff sustained a left shoulder strain due to the motor vehicle accident with a complete resolution of all of her symptoms.
Questions regarding this verdict may be directed to Sean P. Buggy, Esquire.
