Lorthe v. Adeyeye

In Lorthe v. Adeyeye, 306 A.D.2d 252, 760 N.Y.S.2d 530 (2d Dep't. 2003), the defendants submitted the affirmed medical reports of their medical experts which established, prima facie, that neither plaintiff sustained a serious injury within the meaning of Insurance Law 5102(d) as a result of the subject motor vehicle accident. In opposition to the motion, the plaintiffs submitted the affirmations of their examining orthopedist, who stated that each plaintiff was suffering restrictions of motion in his or her lumbosacral spine. However, the plaintiffs' orthopedist failed to address the proof that the disc bulges in the lumbosacral spines of both plaintiffs were due to pre-existing degenerative changes. Therefore, his findings that the plaintiffs current restrictions of motion were causally related to the subject accident was mere speculation.