Auto negligence; Elements of a negligence claim; Loweke v. Ann Arbor Ceiling & Partition Co., LLC; Causation; Lockridge v. Oakwood Hosp.; Skinner v. Square D Co.; Craig v. Oakwood Hosp.; Distinguishing Wilkinson v. Lee

Concluding that Wilkinson was distinguishable, and holding that the plaintiff failed to present sufficient evidence that the defendant’s actions were a cause in fact of her injuries, the court affirmed the trial court’s order granting defendant summary disposition in this auto negligence case. This case arose from an accident in 2013. Plaintiff was injured in another accident in 2003. Reviewing her medical history before and after the 2013 accident, it appeared that she “suffered from the same symptoms as she did before the accident.” She suffered from disc changes in her cervical and lumbar spine before the 2013 accident, “and the severity of plaintiff’s pain symptoms changed visit to visit.” There was no evidence that the pain she experienced after the 2013 accident was actually caused by defendant’s actions, and no evidence that any of her treating doctors concluded that her problems were caused by the 2013 accident. She “failed to introduce any affidavits from her treating physicians that stated that, in their professional opinion, the accident exacerbated or aggravated her existing symptoms.” Dr. L, an independent medical examiner, concluded that any treatment she received “above and beyond a soft tissue strain could not be related to or caused by” defendant’s actions. Importantly, plaintiff did not present any evidence indicating that her treating physicians disagreed with L. The court found her reliance on Wilkinson misplaced, noting that unlike the plaintiff there, plaintiff here “was never diagnosed with a new injury, and plaintiff never presented any medical evidence establishing that her physicians opined” that the 2013 accident “caused or aggravated her preexisting injuries.” Because she did not establish a genuine issue of material fact as to whether defendant’s actions caused her injuries, the trial court properly granted defendant summary disposition.