DeMaria v. Bridgeport

Citations

• 339 Conn. 477

Syllabus

Pursuant to statute (§ 52-174 (b)), ''any party offering in evidence a signed report . . . for treatment of any treating physician . . . may have the report . . . admitted into evidence as a business entry and it shall be presumed that the signature on the report is that of such treating physi- cian . . . and that the report . . . [was] made in the ordinary course of business.'' The plaintiff sought to recover damages, pursuant to the municipal defective highway statute (§ 13a-149), from the defendant city for personal injuries he sustained when he fell on a city sidewalk. After his fall, the plaintiff received treatment for certain symptoms from a number of medical professionals, including his primary care provider, V, at a Veterans Administration hospital. V ultimately wrote a final report for the plain- tiff's medical file, in which she concluded that his injuries, namely, a permanent disability of neuropathy and permanent weakness in his left hand, were caused with a reasonable degree of medical certainty by the fall. Prior to trial, the city filed a motion in limine to preclude the admission of V's treatment records and reports, as well as her medical opinions and conclusions, on the ground that they were inadmissible under § 52-174 (b) because the city would have no opportunity, either at a deposition or at trial, to cross-examine V, who was precluded from testifying by virtue of the applicable federal regulation (38 C.F.R. § 14.808 (2017)) prohibiting Department of Veterans Affairs personnel from pro- viding testimony in certain legal proceedings. The trial court denied that motion, and, on the first day of trial, the city moved to preclude the admission of V's final report on the ground that V, a physician assistant, was not competent to render an opinion on the permanency of the plaintiff's injuries. The court denied that motion, as well. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff, and the trial court rendered judgment in accordance with the verdict. The