Summary
In McDonald (supra), the plaintiff alleged that she experienced a dizzy spell while attempting to dismount from an examination table in defendant physician's office, and that as a result, she fell to the floor and fractured her wrist.
Summary of this case from Gold v. SteinmetzOpinion
March 13, 1995
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Roncallo, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed, without costs or disbursements.
The plaintiff alleged that she experienced a dizzy spell while attempting to dismount from an examining table in the office of the defendant physician and that as a result, she fell to the floor and fractured her wrist. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant's negligence consisted of his leaving her unattended after he finished examining her and his failure to provide her with assistance in dismounting from the table. The instant motion for summary judgment brought by the defendant was based entirely on the premise that the dizzy spell was not foreseeable. The plaintiff's medical records, which were available to the defendant, indicate, however, that the plaintiff had a longstanding history of dizzy spells and that she had experienced the symptom several times in the 11 days prior to the occurrence, including one instance which took place a mere one or two days prior to the occurrence. We accordingly conclude that an issue of fact exists with respect to whether the occurrence was foreseeable, and summary judgment was therefore properly denied. Sullivan, J.P., Miller, Copertino, Joy and Friedmann, JJ., concur.