ERIE – A federal magistrate judge will allow the testimony of a physical rehabilitative specialist as to the alleged depression and anxiety felt by a plaintiff subsequent to being run over by a tractor-trailer.
On May 5, U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard A. Lanzillo denied the motion in limine brought by defendants Frank Napierkowski of Salineville, Ohio and Hilltrux Tank Lines, Inc. of North Jackson, Ohio, instead ruling in favor of spousal plaintiffs Robert Repa and Jean Repa of Meadville.
On May 2, 2017, at about 4:45 a.m., Mr. Repa, in his duties as a fire police officer, was directing traffic at the intersection of State Route 6 and 19 with Kreitz Road and Zilhaver Road, in Cambridge Springs, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. Despite the four road names, this is a four-way intersection.
At the above time and place, Mr. Repa was working in an active emergency response area to divert traffic around a major fire occurring at the historic Riverside Inn, in Cambridge Springs.
At the same time, defendant Napierkowski, allegedly in a negligent and careless fashion, operated a tractor-trailer vehicle in the southbound direction of State Route 6 and 19 in that, while making a left-hand turn onto Zilhaver Road, in such a manner as to hit Mr. Repa, run his legs over and knock him over a guardrail into a ravine. This catastrophic series of events left Mr. Repa seriously injured, the suit said.
Later on in the litigation, the plaintiffs attempted to secure the expert testimony of Dr. Richard Bonfiglio, in order to testify to Mr. Repa’s depression and anxiety felt after the accident – a move which led to the defendants filing a motion in limine, in order to disqualify Bonfiglio’s testimony as not credible.
However, Lanzillo found that Bonfiglio’s bona fides were more than sufficient.
“Dr. Bonfiglio is a medical doctor presently licensed to practice medicine in six states, including Pennsylvania. His experience includes taking medical histories, prescribing medications and ordering, performing and interpreting diagnostic tests. He has won awards for his work in medicine, has given hundreds of medical lectures and presentations and has published dozens of journal articles and book chapters on matters of medicine. He currently is a clinical assistant professor and adjunct professor at Temple Medical School and Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine and has taught at a minimum of ten other universities,” Lanzillo said.
“Dr. Bonfiglio testified at his deposition that ‘a significant percentage of the patients’ he sees ‘have psychological or psychiatric problems.’ He also ‘prescribes psychotropic medicines for patients.’ He ‘[treats] a lot of patients with psychological problems who, for a variety of reasons, do not want to go to a psychologist or a psychiatrist.’ He added, ‘The field of physical medicine overlaps with other fields. We routinely take care of patients with psychiatric conditions.’ Based on the testimony proffered from Dr. Bonfiglio’s deposition, the Court finds as a preliminary matter that Dr. Bonfiglio is qualified to offer an expert opinion on Repa’s depression and anxiety.”
Lanzillo added that the Court found the plaintiffs “further met their burden to demonstrate that Dr. Bonfiglio used reliable principles and methods to diagnose Mr. Repa.”
“When assessing Mr. Repa, Dr. Bonfiglio reviewed and summarized his medical records. He met with Mr. Repa and his wife and performed a complete diagnostic evaluation. This meeting included reviewing his current medical conditions, assessing his pain levels, his past medical history, reviewing current medications, drug allergies and medical equipment, a review of systems, taking a social history, vocational history and a physical and neurological exam,” Lanzillo said.
“He then recorded his diagnostic impressions, his case analysis and recommendations. All medical opinions offered in his report were expressed with a reasonable degree of medical probability and certainty. Dr. Bonfiglio testified that he relied on the medical records, his in-person evaluation and his experiences with other patients when diagnosing Mr. Repa with depression and anxiety, noting that he had observable symptoms of depression. He explained, in a pertinent part, ‘Mr. Repa has good reasons to be depressed because of the significant functional limitations that he has and the ongoing chronic pain that he has.”
As result, Lanzillo denied the motion in limine to limit the testimony of Dr. Bonfiglio.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania case 1:19-cv-00101
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com