In January, Gary Weber defended an automobile accident case in Lycoming County Court. Although negligence was admitted, the jury awarded no damages.
The plaintiff, an elderly man, claimed back pain and disability resulting from the accident. His physician related ongoing problems to the accident. Several months after the accident, he was found to have a compression fracture of a vertebrae and was treated by an orthopedic surgeon using a kyphoplasty procedure, which involved the injection of an acrylic material into the spine to expand a compressed vertebrae. Afterwards, he continued to complain of pain and disability.
The case was defended on the apparent lack of impairment. The compression fracture was treated with a minimally invasive procedure and resolved quickly. Also, the evidence established severe degenerative arthritis in all back levels, that had a similar appearance before and after the accident. There appeared to be some pre-accident problems that were understated by the plaintiff in his testimony.
The jury, quite plainly, found that the accident related injuries were not serious and that the ongoing complaints were not accident related. Ongoing medical expenses were not awarded and no non-economic damages were awardable under the limited tort statute. Thus, nothing was awarded by the jury.