March 27, 2007

Montefiore Med. Ctr. v Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. (2007 NY Slip Op 02724)

Headnote

The relevant facts that the court considered in "Montefiore Med. Ctr. v Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co." are that Montefiore Medical Center, as assignee of Sherice Haye, was seeking to recover no-fault medical payments under contracts of insurance. Montefiore appealed the denial of their motion for summary judgment on the first cause of action. The primary issue was whether there was a triable issue of fact as to whether the patient’s treatment was unrelated to her motor vehicle accident, as raised by the hospital records and other material submitted by the defendant. The court held that a triable issue of fact existed regarding whether the defendant's denial of no-fault benefits in this case was proper, and therefore they affirmed the lower court’s order.

Reported in New York Official Reports at Montefiore Med. Ctr. v Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. (2007 NY Slip Op 02724)

Montefiore Med. Ctr. v Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co.

2007 NY Slip Op 02724 [38 AD3d 861]

March 27, 2007

Appellate Division, Second Department

Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.

As corrected through Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Montefiore Medical Center, as Assignee of Sherice Haye, et al., Appellants,
v
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Respondent.

—[*1] Joseph Henig, P.C., Bellmore, N.Y., for appellants.

Epstein, Rayhill & Frankini, Woodbury, N.Y. (James Frankini and Frank Marotta of counsel), for respondent.

In an action to recover no-fault medical payments under contracts of insurance, the plaintiffs appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (McCarty, J.), dated August 2, 2006, which denied the motion of the plaintiff Montefiore Medical Center, as assignee of Sherice Haye, for summary judgment in its favor on the first cause of action.

Ordered that the appeal by the plaintiff New York and Presbyterian Hospital, as assignee of Haydee Marca, is dismissed, as that plaintiff is not aggrieved by the order appealed from (see CPLR 5511), and it is further,

Ordered that the order is affirmed; and it is further,

Ordered that one bill of costs is awarded to the defendant.

Contrary to the contention of the plaintiff Montefiore Medical Center, as assignee of Sherice Haye (hereinafter Montefiore), the Supreme Court properly denied its motion for summary judgment in its favor on the first cause of action. In response to Montefiore’s prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law (see generally Presbyterian Hosp. in City of N.Y. v Maryland Cas. Co., 90 NY2d 274 [1997]; New York Univ. Hosp. Rusk Inst. v Hartford Acc. & Indem. Co., [*2]32 AD3d 458 [2006]; Hospital for Joint Diseases v Allstate Ins. Co., 21 AD3d 348 [2005]), the defendant submitted the hospital records of the patient and other material which raised a triable issue of fact as to whether the condition for which the patient was treated was unrelated to her motor vehicle accident (see generally St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hosp. v Allstate Ins. Co., 303 AD2d 743 [2003]). Accordingly, a triable issue of fact exists regarding whether the defendant’s denial of no-fault benefits in this case was proper.

Montefiore’s remaining contentions are without merit. Mastro, J.P., Florio, Carni and McCarthy, JJ., concur.