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PLAINTIFF SLIPPED AND FELL COMING OUT OF THE SHOWER, INJURING HER GENITAL AND PELVIC AREAS; DEFENDANTS WERE ENTITLED TO AN INDEPENDENT MEDICAL EXAMINATION WHICH MIRRORED THE EXAM DONE BY PLAINTIFF’S OWN PHYSICIAN, INCLUDING A GYNECOLOGICAL EXAM AND A FULL PELVIC EXAM; SUPREME COURT HAD DENIED THE FULL PELVIC EXAM; THERE WAS AN EXTENSIVE DISSENT (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Renwick, over a full-fledged dissenting opinion, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, determined defendants in this slip and fall case was entitled to an independent medical examination (IME) of plaintiff which included both a gynecological exam and a full pelvic exam, conducted by a female doctor. Plaintiff alleged she slipped and fell coming out of a shower, injuring her genital and pelvic areas. Supreme Court had allowed the gynecological exam but not the pelvic exam:

… [W]hat we cannot overlook is that plaintiff, who is seeking substantial damages from defendants, has already gone through a comprehensive gynecological examination by her treating physician, without any medically reported adverse effects. The prior comprehensive gynecological exam clearly included a pelvic examination, as indicated by the treating physician’s own finding of pelvic- related injuries. Indeed, the treating physician categorized the proposed pelvic examination as a routine practice (i.e., “classic pelvic exam techniques”) … .

… [W]e find that plaintiff cannot raise her concerns as a bar to similar tests by the party she charges with responsibility for her current condition and injuries. Defendants do not have to rely upon previous pelvic examinations conducted by plaintiff’s treating physician … . Absent any support for the claim that the pelvic examination would be harmful, defendants are entitled to conduct their own pelvic examination for the purpose of refutation or confirmation of plaintiff’s alleged serious and permanent injuries, and their correlation to plaintiff’s current symptoms.

… [A]pplying basic principles of CPLR discovery to require a plaintiff, who puts her gynecological condition at issue, to submit to an IME in the form of a gynecological examination that includes a routine pelvic examination, is … consistent with our role as judges to be fair and balanced even in the most difficult cases. A plaintiff who has voluntarily submitted to a routine pelvic examination by her own treating physician without adverse effects should be required to undergo a similar examination that is material and necessary to defend against her claims that she sustained serious gynecological injuries. Pettinato v EQR-Rivertower, LLC, 2023 NY Slip Op 00068, First Dept 1-10-23

Practice Point: Here plaintiff fell coming out of the shower injuring her genital and pelvic areas. Defendants requested an independent medical examination (IME) which mirrored the exam done by plaintiff’s physician. The motion court allowed a gynecological exam but denied the full pelvic exam. Because plaintiff’s physician had conducted a full pelvic exam to determine the injuries, defendants were entitled to conduct their own full pelvic exam.

 

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