MOKHTAR ASAADI, M.D. v. MAUREEN MYERS

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-0

MOKHTAR ASAADI, M.D.,

Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

MAUREEN MYERS,

Defendant-Appellant.

____________________________________

March 5, 2014

Submitted October 30, 2013 Decided

Before Judges Nugent and Accurso.

On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Essex County, Docket No. L-6153-11.

Thomas W. Williams, attorney for appellant.

Fishman McIntyre P.C., attorneys for respondent (Stanley P. Fishman and Ann Marie F. Kane, on the brief).

PER CURIAM

Defendant Maureen Myers appeals from a summary judgment entered against her on a bill for medical services rendered by plaintiff Mokhtar Asaadi, M.D. Because we perceive a genuine dispute over material facts, we reverse.

The summary judgment record is somewhat sparse. Defendant was apparently camping with her husband in Pennsylvania when she fell into their campfire and severely burned one of her hands. The couple tried to return to their home on Long Island but got only so far as Hackettstown Hospital. Defendant was transported from Hackettstown to the Burn Center at Saint Barnabas where she remained for six weeks. While at Saint Barnabas, she came under the care of plaintiff.

The parties agree that plaintiff treated defendant on four dates in January 2010, that plaintiff billed defendant $87,377.43, and that defendant's insurance carrier paid only $53,681.09. Defendant paid an additional $651.50, leaving a claim of $33,044.84.

Defendant, however, submitted a certification stating that while plaintiff advised her that he would be treating her at Saint Barnabas, he never discussed his charges or billing practices. She claims that she never agreed to be responsible for any charges by plaintiff, and certainly not for any charges beyond those covered by her insurance. She further contends that plaintiff's charges were unreasonable and had he told her that he would bill her $33,044.84 beyond the $53,681.09 paid by her insurance carrier, "I would have told plaintiff that there is no way I could pay him that amount of money and I would have sought medical care for my hand elsewhere."

Plaintiff did not submit a certification on the motion. Further, he presented no contract or other writing referencing any agreement by defendant to pay for the medical services he rendered to her. He, instead, relied on defendant's responses to his request for admissions. Although defendant admitted that plaintiff treated her, and that her insurance company had paid a portion of the bill, she denied that she owed plaintiff the remainder. Moreover, plaintiff did not ask defendant to admit that she agreed to pay for the services rendered.

Neither party appears to have requested oral argument. The motion was decided on the papers without a statement of reasons explaining why the court determined that summary judgment was appropriate on this record. In the absence of proof of any contract between the parties, we cannot conclude that there is "a single, unavoidable resolution of the alleged disputed issue of fact" on this record. Brill v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am., 142 N.J. 520, 540 (1995). Accordingly, we are constrained to reverse and remand for further proceedings.

Reversed and remanded. We do not retain jurisdiction.