If you’ve been involved in an auto accident and have a pre-existing medical condition, you might be worried that your pre-existing condition could potentially ruin your injury claim. While the opposing side may attempt to discredit your claim based on a prior injury or condition, the truth is that the condition itself will not harm your claim, but lying about not having the condition will.
Consider the recent injury claim of an auto accident victim in Genesee County, Michigan. The woman, who had a long history of pre-existing medical conditions, deliberately hid these conditions from the doctors who treated her after the accident. As a result, her doctors’ opinions were “flatly contradicted” by her true medical history; the medical providers who attested that her injuries resulted directly from the recent accident only did so based on the false understanding that the woman was “completely asymptomatic” regarding any pre-existing conditions.
In fact, the woman had a long history of neck and back pain and even reported such pain to her doctor as recently as five days before her accident occurred, and it was also found that her neck and back treatment pre-dated the accident and continued as usual after it occurred. The woman lost the case due to her dishonesty.
The simple lesson here is to always inform your treating doctors and physicians of any pre-existing medical conditions and associated symptoms, and never withhold this information. For a successful injury claim, it is essential that your doctors and lawyers can successfully distinguish and differentiate your levels of functioning and activities before and after the accident, and they must be aware of your pre-existing conditions to accomplish this and establish the link between the accident and the injuries you recently sustained.
Also, disclose your pre-accident treatment plans for pre-existing conditions, including when you most recently sought this treatment before the accident, and provide your doctors with all medical records and documentation pertaining to your pre-existing conditions.
If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident due to negligence, contact Mike Agruss Law for a free consultation. We are a Chicago-based injury law firm representing individuals (and their families) who have suffered an injury in an accident. We will handle your case quickly and advise you every step of the way, and we will not hesitate to go to trial for you.
Lastly, Mike Agruss Law is not paid attorneys’ fees unless we win your case. Our no-fee promise is that simple. You have nothing to risk when you hire us – only the opportunity to seek justice.
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