EAST ST. LOUIS – Former trucker James Manier, who seeks almost $10 million from Page Trucking for crash injuries, must produce 10 years of records about 10 other factors harming his health.
Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel ordered production on March 16, “due to the unique nature and extent of his injuries.”
“Further, the court orders that the medical records from the date of the accident to present shall not be limited to any specific body parts,” she wrote.
The accident happened in 2018, between two trucks on Interstate 57 at Benton.
Manier, an Illinois resident, sued trucker Mario Dalpra of Ohio in Franklin County circuit court in 2020.
Manier’s counsel Raymond Lawler of Marion also sued Amish Country Farms as Dalpra’s employer.
Amish Country Farms removed the complaint to district court on the basis of diverse citizenship as an Indiana business.
Manier later dropped Amish Country Farms as defendant and sought damages from Page Trucking, a New York State business, as Dalpra’s employer.
Manier expanded his legal team by retaining Kent Emison and Mark Emison of Lexington, Mo., and Lanny Darr of Alton.
This Feb. 4, Page Trucking counsel Brant Poling of Columbus, Ohio moved to compel production of medical records.
He claimed that at the time of the crash Manier was 57 years old and obese, with diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, arthropathy, hyperlipidemia, artery disease, chronic back pain, severe hip arthritis, and a history of nicotine dependence.
He claimed defendants asked for complete records since the onset of the case.
He claimed they requested specific records and described what was missing.
He claimed they produced authorizations to Manier to allow them to obtain records themselves.
He claimed Manier alleged he sustained permanent injuries to his neck, spine, esophagus, shoulder, right knee, and back.
“Plaintiff has put his current and past medical history in question in this matter by citing these injuries,” he wrote.
“Defendants deserve the opportunity to do a complete comparative analysis of plaintiff’s condition before the crash, immediately following the crash, and his current condition.”
He asserted a right to explore whether injuries that allegedly resulted from the crash were present prior to April 4, 2018.
On Feb. 18, Mark Emison responded for Manier that the records were protected from disclosure by physician patient privilege.
“Plaintiff has provided defendants with all the medical records relating to the medical conditions that he put in issue by filing this personal injury action,” Emison wrote.
He claimed Manier remained willing to provide authorization pertaining to his neck, shoulder, back, and right knee for five years preceding the crash.
He claimed Manier provided ten prior years for primary care physicians, “limited to the body parts at issue.”
On Feb. 25, defense counsel Ted Perryman of Richmond Heights, Mo. claimed conditions build on each other and affect multiple systems in the body.
“Plaintiff testified in the first session of his deposition that he had difficulty with his range of motion in his neck prior to the crash,” Perryman wrote.
Rosenstengel heard argument on March 16, and immediately issued an order.
She wrote that she weighed the value of the records against the burden of providing them and took into account society’s interest in furthering her truth seeking function.
She directed Page Trucking and Dalpra to provide blank authorization to Manier’s counsel as soon as possible.
She gave Manier’s counsel 10 days to return them fully executed.
She has set trial in June.