Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. Peoples Best Care Chiropractic and Rehabilitation, Inc., et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 12-047-17)
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss. SUPERIOR COURT. 1684CV01239-BLS2 ____________________ LIBERTY MUTUAL INS. CO. v. PEOPLES BEST CARE CHIROPRACTIC AND REHABILITATION, INC.; PLEASANT VALLEY CHIROPRACTIC LLC; and RAGHUBINDER BAJWA, M.D., P.C. ____________________ MEMORANDUM AND ORDER ALLOWING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT This lawsuit concerns the rates that Liberty Mutual Insurance Company pays to chiropractic clinics under Personal Injury Protection (“PIP”) benefit provisions in personal automobile insurance policies. Liberty seeks a declaration that an Illinois court’s final judgment that approved the settlement of a nationwide class action regarding these rates is entitled to full faith and credit in Massachusetts and binds the three Defendants, who did not opt out of the Illinois proceeding and therefore are members of the plaintiff class in that case. Defendant Raghubinder Bajwa, M.D., P.C., was defaulted for failing to answer the complaint. Defendants Peoples Best Chiropractic and Rehabilitation, Inc. (“PBC”) and Pleasant Valley Chiropractic LLC (“PVC”) (collectively, the remaining “Defendants”) oppose Liberty’s request and assert counterclaims seeking to bar Liberty from implementing the settlement. The Court concludes that Liberty is entitled to summary judgment in its favor on all claims. With respect to Liberty’s affirmative claim, the Court concludes that there is an actual controversy between the parties and that the Illinois final order and judgment is entitled to full faith and credit in Massachusetts courts. In addition, Liberty is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on Defendants’ counterclaims. Defendants sought leave to conduct certain discovery before the Court decided Liberty’s summary judgment motion. The Court denies this request because none of the discovery sought by Defendants concerns any factual issue relevant to whether Liberty is entitled to summary judgment. 1. Factual Background. Liberty was the defendant in a multi-state class action filed in Illinois state court to challenge the way Liberty determines what rates it will pay to chiropractors and other medical care providers under the no-fault PIP – 2 – provisions of personal automobile insurance policies. The Illinois case was captioned Leonon Chiropractic Clinic, P.C. v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and docketed as Illinois Circuit Court for St. Clair County, no. 14-L-52. Liberty compares billed charges for medical treatment to a database of charges that Liberty believes are for similar services provided in the same geographic area. Since 2011 Liberty has done so using data maintained by a non-profit company called FAIR Health, Inc. Liberty generally refuses to pay rates any higher than the 80th percentile of similar charges according to the FAIR Health data. The plaintiffs in the Illinois case claimed that this practice was unlawful. The parties to the Illinois lawsuit entered into a Stipulation of Settlement in October 2014 that would resolve all claims on behalf of a proposed class. […]
Brothers Injured in Bombing Recovering Together at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Brothers JP and Paul Norden reunited last Friday at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, where they are both undergoing care for injuries sustained in the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings. Used to seeing each other several times a day before the explosion that left them both without one leg, the brothers were glad for the reunion, though it will be short-lived—Paul is expected to be released from Spaulding soon for out-patient care, while JP will remain behind. “I can’t even describe…” Paul, 31, said when asked what it was like to be back with his brother. “I didn’t see him for 14 days, and it was so tough. I see him every day of my life. So it’s just amazing to be back to normal.” JP, 33, said of their reunion: “It’s the best thing ever.” At a press conference held Monday at Spaulding’s new location in the Charlestown Navy Yard, the Stoneham natives spoke about the many emotions they had experienced over the past month, the ups and downs of rehabilitation and their special bond as brothers—which comes with a healthy side of competition. Paul even joked that the hospital that treated him after the bombing, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, was better than Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which treated JP. (Both brothers had nothing but good things to say about their respective medical teams.) At Spaulding, the brothers are able to visit each other’s rooms, and Paul said, once he’s been discharged, he plans to visit JP every day. “Unfortunately, I do believe it does help [to be recovering together]. I’d rather it not be that way, but it is that way,” Paul said. “We’re going to work hard and get through this.” The pair also said they were grateful for the overwhelming support of their family, friends, doctors and first responders—as well as people they had never met who have rallied around them to raise funds or just to say hi. “The managers must go nuts here [at Spaulding]—we’ve got 30 visitors a day,” JP said. “They’re the ones that keep us positive.” “I’ve had Facebook people from Britain asking how I’m doing. It’s really been nice to know that people care,” he added. The brothers said they are concerned about friends who were also injured in the bombing but that they were focusing on their own recovery. “We think of all the other friends of ours that got hurt, but we have to focus on ourselves getting better first,” Paul said. JP and Paul Norden were spectators, waiting for a friend to finish the Boston Marathon, when the two explosions went off. The moments after the explosions […]
Categories: Arrests Tags: Bombing, Brothers, Hospital, Injured, Recovering, Rehabilitation, Spaulding, Together
‘We Have Never Needed Them More’: Boston Celebrates Opening of New Rehabilitation Hospital
At the grand opening of a new, state-of-the-art facility where clinicians will help people adapt to amputations and other traumatic injuries, Boston Mayor Tom Menino and others celebrated the strength of the city of Boston and the strength of the human spirit Saturday night. Benefactors, hospital staff and city officials gathered Saturday night at a tent set up outside the new nine-story Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in the Charlestown Navy Yard. Since its founding in 1970, Spaulding has provided in- and out-patient services for people recovering from a range of issues, including spinal cord and brain injuries, strokes, amputations and burns. Some of the hospital’s clinicians were waiting at the finish line when the two bombs went off at the Boston Marathon on Monday, and the staff will be there in their new facility when several of the people injured in the blasts begin the process of healing and adapting to their devastating injuries. With construction of the new, 132-bed hospital, “Spaulding will carry on a proud tradition, which says that strength can be recovered, damage can be repaired and defeat is never an option,” Spaulding President David Storto said. “This new hospital will be a place of hope and of healing, of learning and innovation and of grace and compassion.” He mentioned specifically the role of the hospital in light of recent events. “To those who survived the marathon bombings with catastrophic injuries: Rest assured that Spaulding and our extremely talented and dedicated and compassionate staff will provide the best rehabilitation care available in the world, and rest assured that we will work with them and their families to achieve a quality of life that they likely cannot even imagine at this early juncture of their recovery. As President Obama said at the interfaith service a few days ago, many of them will walk again and will run again.” The mayor, who was himself a patient at Spaulding this past fall, spoke at the gala about the staff’s compassion and endurance with patients. “We’re so lucky to have Spaulding in our city,” he said. Several speakers at the event mentioned the importance of celebrating the new hospital after such a difficult week in Boston. “It’s wonderful to be able to gather together as a community after the tragic events of this week. What better setting than in this place where healing of body and soul are at the heart of our mission and where we can all find our strength together,” said Scott Schoen, chairman of the Spaulding Board of Trustees. “Like all of you here this evening I am saddened and angered by the violence that was brought to […]
Categories: Arrests Tags: boston, Celebrates, Hospital, More, Needed, Never, Opening, Rehabilitation, Them