Martin Kane Kuper Partner John Harding recently defended a client in an automobile accident case titled Nancy Prudent v. Glenn Van Pell.  The case was tried before Judge Carter in Middlesex County. Liability was stipulated, and Plaintiff was subject to a limited threshold for automobile claims. Plaintiff was found to have suffered a herniated disc at L5-S1 following a T-bone automobile accident on December 8, 2012.  The plaintiff had a prior history of back problems but contended the problems were aggravated by the accident and that the L5-S1 disc herniation was a new finding.

She called as her experts, Dr. Rijsinghani, the radiologist who originally read the plaintiff’s MRI films. He testified that films before the accident did not show any herniation but that films done two months after the accident showed the herniation. Dr. Wheeler, a radiologist and pain management doctor testified that the herniation was a new finding and was causally related to the accident. The defense called Dr. Robert Bercik, an orthopedic surgeon, who testified that the films done before the accident did indeed show a pre-existing herniation that was not affected by the accident.

The jury found no permanent injury causally related to the accident and therefore no cause of action. The case was tried by Glenn Slavin for the plaintiff and John W. Harding for the defendant.