A good doctor can be an essential element of a personal injury case. Before you decide on a treating physician, it is important to consider the role they might play in the success of your injury claim. Selecting the right doctor can help increase the odds that you will receive a reasonable settlement for your case.
At Brian D. Guralnick Injury Lawyers, we have developed relationships with doctors across the entire State of Florida. Whether you have been injured in a car accident in Tampa or suffered injuries after a slip and fall in Jacksonville, we understand the value of qualified medical professionals who can contribute to the outcome of your case.
The Credibility Of Your Treating Physician Is Important
The treatment you receive and the medical records about that same treatment play an important role in developing your personal injury case. These key pieces of evidence establish a correlation between your injuries and the underlying accident. For this reason, your treating physician can be an important witness when your lawyer attempts to prove the severity of your injuries and the value of your case.
It is true that you and your attorney could hire a witness, called an expert, to discuss your medical records and treatment. In some circumstances, hiring an expert witness is necessary and prudent. However, a hired witness’s credibility is always under assault because of the perception that they have been paid to say whatever your attorney wants them to say. In addition, a hired medical expert can be expensive, reducing your recovery if your case eventually settles.
Your treating physician, on the other hand, typically has more credibility than a hired expert. Your doctor doesn’t have anything on the line because he or she is not being paid to testify about the extent or severity of your injuries. When you select the right physician, it can help tell the full story of your claim.
Read more: How to Prove a Slip-and-Fall Injury Case
Maintaining Regular Check-Ups And Therapy Appointments Is Crucial
After an initial visit with your doctor, you would be wise to follow all your doctor’s directions and instructions. If you don’t follow your doctor’s orders, insurance companies and their attorneys might try to chip away at the value of your case by pointing to your failure to maintain regular therapeutic treatment. After all, it would be pretty difficult for you to claim that you have a debilitating injury if you never attend follow-up appointments with your doctor or ignore the directions of your treating physician.
It is also important to remember that your doctor will take notes and record your visits. These records are crucial for a personal injury case and can be a key factor in determining the value of your claim. Your doctor’s notations help establish the basis for the money you seek for medical costs incurred. These records can also help establish whether you will make a full recovery from your injuries or whether you might suffer from a long-term disability.
The Accuracy Of Your Doctor’s Diagnosis Is Critical
Medical care and testing can be incredibly expensive. Ultimately, the goal of your personal injury claim is to receive compensation for the medical care and treatment you received. However, if you are misdiagnosed or receive unnecessary treatment for your accident-related injuries, you might not be able to recover money for those medical expenses. That is why your doctor’s diagnosis needs to be accurate. You want a qualified treating physician to render an accurate diagnosis and appropriate testing.
The Timeline Of Your Treatment Tells The Story Of Your Injury
When you receive ongoing medical treatment for injuries you suffered in an accident, your injury is probably more severe than a case where someone visits a doctor only once. It should go without saying the more necessary medical treatment you undergo, the more compensation you are probably entitled to receive. You want to avoid unnecessary medical procedures, and you don’t want to participate in never-ending doctor’s visits that aren’t improving your overall recovery.
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Always Be Truthful About Pre-Existing Conditions
One of the most harmful mistakes an accident victim can make is to hide the details of a pre-existing condition from their lawyer and treating physician. This is not to say that a pre-existing condition will automatically prevent you from recovering from your injuries because it doesn’t. When you have been honest with your doctor about pre-existing conditions, your doctor can often figure out whether you are having issues with a pre-existing condition or whether your symptoms are related to your accident.
You can also receive compensation from a negligent party if their conduct aggravates or exacerbates an old injury. For instance, if you recovered from a back injury several years ago but aggravated your back injury in a recent car accident, you can still recover compensation for the medical expenses associated with the aggravation of that old injury.
Whether you have suffered injuries, or aggravated old injuries, in an accident caused by someone else’s carelessness, reach out to the offices of Brian D. Guralnick Injury Lawyers. We have relationships with exceptional physicians throughout the Sunshine State, and we love helping our clients recover physically, emotionally, and financially after an accident.
