CARINO v. MUENZEN
JOSEPH CARINO, as Administrator of the Estate of GRACE CARINO, deceased, and JOSEPH CARINO, individually, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
CHRISTOPHER MUENZEN, M.D., Defendant-Respondent.
No. A-5491-08T1.
Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.
Argued May 26, 2010.
Decided August 30, 2010.
Mitchell J. Makowicz, Jr., argued the cause for appellant (Blume, Goldfaden, Berkowitz, Donnelly, Fried & Forte, attorneys; Mr. Makowicz, on the brief).
Neil Reiseman argued the cause for respondent (Reiseman, Rosenberg & Pfund, PC, attorneys; Mr. Reiseman, of counsel; Pamela C. Castillo, on the brief).
Before Judges Cuff, Miniman and Waugh.
PER CURIAM.
Joseph Carino, individually and as the executor of the Estate of his wife Grace Carino,1 appeals the dismissal of his complaint alleging medical malpractice against defendant Christopher Muenzen, M.D., following a jury verdict of no cause of action. We affirm. I.We discern the following factual and procedural history from the record.
A.On the evening of January 1, 2005, Grace experienced a severe headache. The pain was so intense that she asked Joseph to call 9-1-1, which he did immediately. The emergency medical services (EMS) unit arrived within five to ten minutes. An EMS worker checked Grace's vital signs, which were normal. She had no complaints of dizziness or nausea. Grace did not go to the hospital and apologized for having called 9-1-1, telling the EMS worker that everything was "fine."
The next day, January 2, Grace complained that her headache would not go away. She decided to seek medical treatment. On January 3, 2005, she drove herself to see Muenzen, an internist, whom she had been seeing since November 2004. She had a history of spinal stenosis, a fairly significant form of arthritis.
1. Because Joseph and his late wife share the same last name, we refer to them by their first names for the sake of convenience.
2. Joseph also presented a damages expert. Because damages are not at issue in this appeal, we do not summarize his testimony.