Iris Dedos, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. James M. Gutierrez, Defendant-Respondent. (2008)

Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Mark Friedlander, J.), entered December 14, 2006, which, insofar as appealed from, granted defendant-respondent's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint as to plaintiff-appellant for lack of a serious injury as required by Insurance Law § 5102(d), unanimously affirmed, without costs.

 There is no merit to plaintiff's argument that defendant's prima facie showing was rendered deficient by his physician's acknowledgment that a bulging disc was revealed by the MRI of plaintiff's lumbar spine taken shortly after the accident (see Lloyd v. Green, 45 A.D.3d 373, 846 N.Y.S.2d 29 [2007];  Kearse v. New York City Tr. Auth., 16 A.D.3d 45, 49-50, 789 N.Y.S.2d 281 [2005] ).   In opposition, plaintiff adduced no medical evidence of impingement or other neurologic deficits that could be attributed to a bulging disc, and the objectively tested range of motion limitations noted in plaintiff's lumbar spine, as well as her cervical spine, left knee and shoulder, were not assessed until nearly five years after the accident, too remote to raise an issue of fact as to whether the restrictions were caused by the accident (see Lopez v. Simpson, 39 A.D.3d 420, 835 N.Y.S.2d 98 [2007] ).   The excerpts from an arthoscopic operative report on plaintiff's left knee, included in plaintiff's bill of particulars, indicates only a partial tear of the anterior cruciate ligament, and there is no evidence that surgical repair of the knee was performed.   We have considered plaintiff's 90/180-day claim and find that it too lacks merit.