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Shpigel v. White12/10/1999
This appeal is taken by plaintiffs from a summary judgment for the defendant in a personal injury action based on a motor vehicle tort. The appeal arises out of an unsuccessful effort to prove causation and damages through medical records and bills without live witness sponsorship or amplification.
The plaintiffs-appellants are Mark Shpigel (Shpigel) and his children, Benjamin and Daniela, who were respectively five and four years of age on May 21, 1996, the date of the subject accident. Shpigel owns and operates a 1991 Chevrolet taxicab. The accident occurred at the intersection of Painters Mill and Reisterstown Roads in Baltimore County at approximately 8:45 a.m. while Shpigel was driving Benjamin and Daniela in his cab to daycare. Shpigel was in the merge lane from Painters Mill Road for traffic seeking to proceed in a southerly direction on Reisterstown Road. Unable to merge, he had come to a full stop when a vehicle operated by the defendant-appellee, Doreen Elizabeth White (White), made contact with the rear of Shpigel's cab. There is no claim for property damage to Shpigel's taxicab in the record before us, and none of the plaintiffs, all of whom were wearing their seatbelts, suffered any impact against any portion of the interior of the cab.
The plaintiffs were transported by ambulance to Northwest Hospital Center in Randallstown where they were examined in the emergency room by a Dr. Matheus. Each plaintiff was discharged that morning, and, on discharge, computer generated discharge instructions were furnished for each plaintiff between 11:20 a.m. and 11:32 a.m. These discharge instructions were signed by a member of the emergency room staff. Shpigel's set of instructions estimated that his complaints would subside in three days. His hospital bill was $146.30, and those of the children were $51.04, each.
On the day immediately following the accident Shpigel presented at the offices of Drs. Braeger, Gaber and Associates, P.A. (the P.A.). Following the initial examination there were four follow-up visits. The P.A. also administered physical therapy on eight occasions between May 24 and July 25, 1996. Records generated by the P.A. which Shpigel sought to introduce consisted of a bill totaling $867, notes of office visits, and three "disability certificates" that collectively state that Shpigel was "totally incapacitated" from May 22 through June 14 and that he had "recovered sufficiently to be able to return to regular work duties on June 17, 1996."
Also on the day immediately following the accident Benjamin and Daniela were examined by a pediatrician, Dr. Allen Stambler, who found nothing wrong with either child. Dr. Stambler billed $450 per child, a figure that includes $75 per child for the preparation of reports to plaintiff's counsel. On May 28, 1996, William D. Petok, Ph.D. conducted a "diagnostic interview exam" of Benjamin and Daniela, followed by four "family psychotherapy" sessions, the last of which was on August 19, 1996. Dr. Petok billed $475. The record does not contain any written report from him.
The instant action was filed on February 13, 1997, and the summary judgment from which this appeal is taken was entered on November 30, 1998, the day on which trial was scheduled. During discovery the plaintiffs furnished copies of the reports of the P.A. and of Dr. Stambler to White by attaching them to answers to interrogatories. On February 12, 1998, the plaintiffs also furnished copies of all of the bills and reports in issue here in response to the defendant's request for production of documents. In June 1998 the plaintiffs sought voluntarily to dismiss this action in order to refile in the District Court of Maryland. White opposed th
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