After getting into an accident or being involved in a slip-and-fall, a person may suffer injuries, whether they be very serious or only minor in nature. After suffering these injuries, a person may go see a doctor, no matter the severity. The doctor may take one of several different paths in helping someone treat these injuries. For major injuries, they may suggest surgery, or a brace or cast of some sort. For more common injuries that can be solved without an invasive procedure, a doctor may suggest a follow up appointment to see how someone is doing or feeling or may suggest going to a physical therapist for a set amount of appointments to help heal the injury. For something that may not require physical therapy, a doctor may suggest taking Advil or Ibuprofen to lessen any temporary pain.
When someone sees a doctor after an accident and after suffering an injury, it is important for them to listen to the advice of their doctor for several reasons. The most important reason however, relates to a personal injury case against a party who may be responsible. If a person seeks to be compensated for their injuries and cannot come to an agreement with an insurance company, then they may seek to file a personal injury lawsuit.
In the discovery phase of a personal injury lawsuit, the defendant’s attorney may seek any medical records or bills that relate to the case at hand. This can relate to the initial doctor’s visit, and potentially any follow-up visits or anything that was suggested by the doctor in the initial visit. Any medical record or bill that is related to the injury that the lawsuit is based around can be seen by the opposing attorney. This is done so that the defense attorney can see what medical treatment was sought, and potentially the cost of such medical treatment. But it can also be used for another purpose – determining whether or not a person was injured as bad as they said they were.
When a defense attorney looks through medical records, they can look for any gaps in treatment, or times where a person skipped a doctor’s or physical therapy appointment. If a person was scheduled for 8 weeks of physical therapy, but only went to 4, and did not attempt to go any more, then a defense attorney might use that to say that a person was not hurting as much as they claimed. If a person does not go to a follow-up doctor’s appointment, this can be used as circumstantial evidence to show that a person was not as injured as they initially stated.
However, in a personal injury case, the most important thing is being honest with your doctor and your attorney about your injuries. When you hire an attorney to work for you in a personal injury case, they want what is best for you. Attorneys will always work hard to get you the compensation you deserve. Just as doctors will always recommend treatments to you that they reasonably believe will help you heal. But it is very important that you let your doctor know if something is not working or has fully helped you heal, and let your attorney know the same. By letting your doctor and attorney know all of your medical treatments and the gaps in that treatment can help further your personal injury case and help your attorney fight against the insurance companies and get you compensation that is right and just.
Have You Been Involved in an Accident?
Contact the attorneys at the law firm of Hurst-Limontes LLC! We fight for our clients and want them to get proper compensation for any injuries that someone has suffered. We work hard for our clients and will do everything in our power to get you just compensation. Call or email us today for a free consultation!