STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY v. CENTRAL THERAPY CENTER, INC., A/A/O ALFREDO TORRES ( 2021 )


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  •       Third District Court of Appeal
    State of Florida
    Opinion filed June 23, 2021.
    Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
    ________________
    No. 3D21-0069
    Lower Tribunal Nos. 19-0298 AP, 07-5682 SP
    ________________
    State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company,
    Appellant,
    vs.
    Central Therapy Center Inc., a/a/o Alfredo Torres,
    Appellee.
    An Appeal from the County Court for Miami-Dade County, Gloria
    Gonzalez-Meyer, Judge.
    Birnbaum, Lippman & Gregoire, PLLC, and Nancy W. Gregoire (Ft.
    Lauderdale); Kirwan Spellacy Danner Watkins & Brownstein, P.A., and
    Christopher L. Kirwan (Ft. Lauderdale), for appellant.
    Corredor & Husseini, P.A., and Maria E. Corredor; David B. Pakula,
    P.A., and David B. Pakula (Pembroke Pines), for appellee.
    Before FERNANDEZ, LINDSEY, and BOKOR, JJ.
    PER CURIAM.
    State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company appeals a final
    judgment entered in favor of Central Therapy Center, Inc. in the amount of
    $6,704.00 plus interest for medical services rendered to Alfredo
    Torres. Torres was an omnibus insured under a personal injury protection
    (“PIP”) policy of insurance issued by State Farm to Maria Herrera. Torres
    allegedly was in an automobile accident and assigned his PIP benefits under
    Herrera’s policy to Central Therapy.
    The final judgement was entered after the lower court granted in
    Central Therapy’s favor its (1) motion for summary judgment arguing the
    services Central Therapy rendered to Torres were reasonable, related, and
    medically necessary; (2) motion for summary judgment regarding Torres’s
    alleged unreasonable refusal to attend an independent medical examination;
    and (3) motion for final summary judgment on the issue of fraud.
    Our review is de novo. See Diodato v. Islamorada Asset Mgmt., Inc.,
    
    138 So. 3d 513
    , 517 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014). Because, based on our review of
    the record, there are genuine issues of material fact, we are compelled to
    reverse the final judgment and the orders granting summary judgment in
    favor of Central Therapy on the issues of reasonable, related, and medically
    necessary; Torres’s alleged unreasonable refusal to attend an independent
    medical examination; and on the issues surrounding the alleged fraud. See
    2
    MacKendree & Co., P.A. v. Pedro Gallinar & Assocs., P.A., 
    979 So. 2d 973
    ,
    976 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008) (“While we do not pass on the merits of the parties’
    opposing viewpoints, we conclude that material facts are in direct conflict,
    thereby precluding summary judgment.”).
    Reversed and remanded.
    3
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 21-0069

Filed Date: 6/23/2021

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 6/23/2021