How Critical Is Timely Medical Attention In A Personal Injury Case?

There is no perfect treatment plan. I advise my clients to seek medical treatment that makes them feel comfortable and let the attorney figure out how to present their case. However, they still need to demonstrate a chronology of treatment.

If you go to the doctor immediately from the scene via an ambulance, it’s all documented. The attorney will be able to follow up. If you were looked at by an E.R. physician and they told you to follow up with your primary care, the documents will show how quickly you followed up with your doctor, physical therapist, or another specialist for your injuries.

Every insurance adjuster has seen cases where people are following a treatment plan to the letter of the law as well as people who have significant delays or gaps in treatment. Sometimes an individual may assume that they’ve completed their treatment, or that they don’t want to follow up with their physical therapist anymore. In cases where the individual has gaps in treatment or stops treatment altogether, the attorney has to explain the circumstances that led the person to stop treatments or failed to return. Lawyers are good at showing the connections between injury and treatment and can put the situation into perspective for the adjusters, mediators, judge, and jury.

Why Is It Critical To Follow Doctor’s Orders In A Personal Injury Case?

I tell clients that if the doctor prescribes or recommends medication that they’re not comfortable taking, they do not have to follow it. An individual is in charge of their body, and they can make their own decisions. Everyone is welcomed to a second opinion if they feel that one is warranted.

If a patient declined medication because it made them have an adverse reaction, it isn’t going to be challenging to argue why the patient discontinued that treatment. As long as there’s a chronology of events that shows a connection between injury and treatment, there will be a way to articulate the reason a medication or treatment was stopped. The concern is significant gaps in time either in between treatments or when no treatment is sought until weeks or months after the injury occurred. This situation can still be explained but will factor in the evaluation of the claim.

For more information on Timely Medical Attention For A Personal Injury, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (603) 880-1300 today.