Court Opinion

ID: 9819214
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 06:20:21.221631+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:11:27.942614
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE COUSINS, dissenting: I respectfully dissent. The defendant submitted the deposition of Dr. Brna in support of the defendant’s motion for summary judgment. In his deposition, Dr. Brna testified that "the drill bit neither delayed nor caused any discomfort or pain.” Furthermore, "the drill bit would not cause future discomfort, disability or discomfort.” He also testified that plaintiff had not complained that he was feeling pain in the shoulder. After defendant filed the motion for summary judgment, the plaintiff filed his own affidavit stating that he experienced pain, stiffness, and popping noise in his right shoulder. However, in my opinion, the nonmedical response by the plaintiff to the motion for summary judgment where the motion was supported by the opinion under oath of the treating doctor is insufficient to raise an issue of fact in the case sub judice. In effect, on the one hand, plaintiff finds no fault with the opinion of Dr. Brna regarding the doctor’s use of the drill and the doctor’s decision not to remove the piece of metal from plaintiff’s shoulder. However, on the other hand, plaintiff contends that he does find fault with Dr. Brna’s opinion in the same deposition that plaintiff was not suffering and would not suffer injury from the presence of the metal in his body. The majority in this case assumes that: (1) the plaintiff can prove breach by the defendant of some duty owed to plaintiff which resulted in the breaking of the drill during surgery, and (2) plaintiff suffered injury. However, the majority’s assumptions are not well founded. These assumptions are wholly predicated on the premise that the presence of an unwanted object in one’s body, without more, constitutes compensable injury. Significantly, the majority cannot cite any case authority to support the per se rule being adopted in this appeal. In my view, the mere presence of an unwanted object in the plaintiff’s body, without more, cannot support a finding in plaintiff’s favor. The plaintiff must introduce evidence that would support a finding in his favor. Payne v. Mroz, 259 Ill. App. 3d 399, 403, 631 N.E.2d 337 (1994). But plaintiff introduced no competent evidence at the hearing. Therefore, the judgment of the trial court in the instant case granting the defendant’s motion for summary judgment was correct and should be affirmed. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.