Opinion
November 20, 1995
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Nassau County (O'Brien, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs.
The defendant Dr. Thomas Joseph Palmieri performed surgery on the right hand of the plaintiff Lydia Vogel to relieve the effects of what was diagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome. The plaintiff, alleging, inter alia, that she was unable to open her hand completely after the surgery, commenced this action against Dr. Palmieri and his clinic, the defendant Hand Rehabilitation Center of Long Island, alleging lack of informed consent and medical malpractice. The court granted the branch of the motion of the defendant Thomas Joseph Palmieri which was for summary judgment and dismissed the complaint insofar as asserted against him. We now affirm.
In support of his motion for summary judgment, Dr. Palmieri submitted evidence in admissible form sufficient to warrant summary judgment in his favor (see, Winegrad v New York Univ. Med. Ctr., 64 N.Y.2d 851). Accordingly, the burden shifted to the plaintiff to raise a triable issue of material fact (see, Winegrad v New York Univ. Med. Ctr., supra; Baldasare v Suriano, 175 A.D.2d 93). Here, however, the affidavit submitted by the plaintiff's expert failed to connect the factual assertions made therein to the plaintiff's claim alleging medical malpractice or lack of informed consent other than in a purely conclusory manner (see, e.g., Bennett v Sullivan, 116 A.D.2d 938). Thus, the complaint was properly dismissed insofar as it is asserted against Dr. Palmieri. Balletta, J.P., Thompson, Ritter and Florio, JJ., concur.