By Gloria Hayes
Special to the Suburban

A Delaware County common pleas jury this month awarded more than a half-million dollars to a driver injured in an automobile accident, but what was most noteworthy, according to the plaintiff’s attorney, was the speed of the process, from start to finish.

“The panel walked into Judge {Harry J.} Bradley’s courtroom in Delaware County at 10:15 a.m.,” said A. Roy DeCaro of the Philadelphia firm of Raynes McCarty Binder Ross & Mundy, “and at 3:15 p.m. they had a verdict and awarded plaintiff $650,000.”

The plaintiff, Beverly Pittinsky, claimed she sustained serious neck and shoulder injuries after her car was rear-ended by a car driven by Franklin Miron. Miron admitted liability, according to the plaintiff’s pretrial statement.

Another circumstance worth noting in Pittinsky v. Miron, DeCaro said, was that Allstate Insurance Co., the defendant’s automobile insurance carrier, offered $16,500 to settle the case. DeCaro said he sent Allstate numerous letters of excess regarding the defendant’s $50,000 policy limit and his intent to collect an excess verdict amount against the insurance company.

“Because of the low physical impact to the car, which did not cause a lot of damage, Allstate put that figure on the case and didn’t budge,” DeCaro said. “This was a severe injury case, and their failure to evaluate the case on an individual basis was akin to playing with fire.”

Pittinsky and her neurosurgeon, S. Ausim Azizi of MCP-Hahnemann University Hospital, were the only two witnesses to testify at trial. Allstate’s attorney, Peter Adubato of the Law Offices of Stephen P. Ahern in Philadelphia, did not present any witnesses. He merely cross-examined the plaintiff’s witnesses, DeCaro said.

According to the pre-trial statement prepared by DeCaro, Pittinsky’s automobile was rear-ended on southbound Route 202 in Chadds Ford on Feb. 9, 1998, by a car driven by Miron.

Afterward, Pittinsky was placed in a cervical collar and taken to Riddle Memorial Hospital where doctors determined she had suffered a concussion and neck pain.

A week later Dr. Azizi evaluated Pittinsky and diagnosed a cervical and brachial plexus traction injury, which was caused by the flexion extension of her neck on impact. Azizi recommended muscle relaxants and over-the-counter pain medication along with physical therapy and a soft collar worn at night.

Between February and May of 1998, the plaintiff attended a total of 19 physical therapy sessions at Broomall Rehabilitation Center but discontinued them due to severe pain she experienced following the sessions. She then began experiencing daily debilitating headaches.

“Prior to the accident, Ms. Pittinsky was an avid runner, bicycle rider and rollerblader. Not only is she unable to do those activities, she also cannot perform such basic tasks as washing her hair, cleaning her house and doing her laundry. She has severe and disabling pain with the simplest of daily activities,” the pretrial statement said.

According to DeCaro, Dr. Azizi testified via videotape that a quantitative sensory test revealed small fiber neuropathy and that the patient’s prognosis for recovery was not good as only 50 per cent of patients with that condition fully recover after two years.

Because Pittinsky was not working at the time of the accident, DeCaro was not seeking lost wages or loss of future earning capacity for his client. He sought damages for past and future pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life as a result of the accident and the injuries Pittinsky sustained.

“When it came time for closing arguments I summed it up for the jury in this way, ‘This case is about a lady, who as a result of this accident, has trouble combing her hair,’” DeCaro said.

“Although the entire trial only took five hours, it was a most appropriate verdict because the plaintiff was seriously injured,” he said.

Delay damages would bring the award to $702,000 according to DeCaro.

DeCaro credited Bradley for the efficiency with which he handled the proceedings.