The last few blog entries have dealt with causation. As explained, causation is the nexus between liability and damages. The injured person must prove that the injuries claimed were “caused” by the accident. There are many common defenses and many of them are related to the causation element of proof.
Some people believe that if they have injured their neck before and are involved in an accident that they CANNOT claim injury to their neck. Obviously, the injuries that were there cannot be claimed solely blaming the accident but there CAN be an sign of AGGRAVATION. So finally, yes, even though one may have experienced injury in a prior accident and are now involved in another accident, they CAN still claim injury to their neck as an AGGRAVATION INJURY.
Many people try to hide their injury from the doctors and from the insurance company, this is a big mistake in my opinion. First of all, while the insurance company cannot see your medical records before a suit is filed, they can get the injured person’s claim history and there is a lot of information in that claim history that will let the insurance company know that a part of the body was previously injured. On same cases I have handled in recent years, the insurance company is able to tell me the dates of accidents my clients were involved, the extent of injury, and sometimes even the names of the doctors that the client went to. Not being honest with your treating doctor(s) can hurt the outcome of a case. The treating doctors state in the records that client had no prior accidents and no prior injuries to the affected body parts. Then thereafter, when asked in court, the doctor testifies that his opinion of the case was based on the representations of the client. For example, the patient had not had any prior injuries or been involved in prior accident and the defense lawyer shows the doctor those prior records. This can result in the doctor’s credibility, as well as, the credibility of the injured person being destroyed.
Generally, it is advisable to notify your doctor of prior injuries and give such records to the treating doctor. Ideally, you may even want to consider going back to that same doctor, as he or she would be familiar with your prior injuries. In many cases, if and when the doctor compares the new tests to prior tests and substantial differences are evident, this would make for a good injury case. If on the other hand the injury is the same, before and after comparing both, prior and new, tests then, obviously, the aggravation would be difficult to prove or it could be argued to be a small difference.
Every case is different and must be judged on its merits. It is a good start to get a complementary consultation regarding an accident case in case this happens to you. The advice contained in this blog is intended to be of general matter and not as to a specific situation, so pelase call a licensed Florida attorney, like the lawyer at Drucker Law Offices, to determine if and how Florida law applies to your case.
Obviously, as a lawyer, clients are advised to be honest and I have found that this is better for the case. Claims can be presented as aggravation cases as discussed above and these are cases and can be winning and good cases. If you have been in an accident, please call the accident lawyer in Boca Raton (injury attorney in West Palm Beach; accident attorney in Miami; injury lawyer in Kendall; accident lawyer in Hallendale). The phone number is 561-483-9199 in Palm Beach; 305-981-1561 in Dade County; or 954-755-2120 in Broward.
