I am solely answering this question from a legal perspective. For the answer to this from a medical perspective, please call and speak to your doctor
Generally, the short answer to the question is “no” but let’s discuss the issue.
On the blog, we discuss the three elements of any injury case in Florida – liability (fault), damages (medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages) and causation. Causation is the connection between the accident and the injury. The causation element questions whether the accident CAUSED the injury. Thus, it is important to seek treatment shortly after your accident and to treat continuously if possible without large gaps in care. A gap in care and especially a large gap in care can be bad and even devastating to an accident case as it suggests someone may not have really been injured if they skipped a month of therapy, for example, if the doctor has prescribed it. So not going to your doctor for a week, a month, or a couple months in general is a bad idea in an injury case, especially if it’s shortly after the accident.
Now the corona virus (COVID 19) presents an interesting issue as it makes the patients (for me, clients) nervous as they are afraid of contracting the corona virus. I AM CLEAR TO MY CLIENTS THAT IF THEY FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE GOING TO THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE, THEN THEY SHOULD NOT GO. I TOTALLY GET IT. There is a risk that it could make their case look bad if they don’t go and I do think that is a valid concern. However, I do think insurance companies evaluating these cases will be more forgiving of gaps in care during this pandemic and further if the case goes to court I believe that the juries will also be forgiving of gaps in care when the reason for the gap is explained. Of course, this is the first global pandemic of this magnitude in our lifetimes (AND HOPEFULLY THE LAST!), so I cannot compare this to the last few pandemics.
There are also at least one way around this issue. First, may doctors are having tele-medicine meaning they are examining the patient by phone or FaceTime or Zoom. Thus, the client can see the doctor from home and at least they are having their pain and symptoms documented. Then, once they feel comfortable to go back to the doctor or therapy office, they can continue the treatment .
I do note that most of the doctor’s offices that are open have special protocol now that people are concerned about the coronavirus pandemic. They clean their offices thoroughly throughout the day and in between patients. Some doctor offices take the employees and patients’ temperatures and asking questions about whether anyone is feeling any corona virus – type symptoms to minimize any risk. And most offices have the doctors and employees in masks and likely are requiring the patients the wear masks. Thus, there are many precautions that are being taken at the doctor office to minimize risks.
And of course the decision of whether to go for therapy or to see the doctor is going to depend on a bunch of factors. If the client has pre-existing conditions that make the corona virus situation more risky – heart issues, lung disease, asthma, immunocompromised, diabetes, old age, general infirmity, etc. – then clearly those people should be more concerned about going to a doctor (or leaving the house at all!).
The government has deemed most doctor offices to be “essential” and thus they are open to treat patients within the limits set by the CDC (social distancing, etc.). The doctor offices are changing to clean the treatment rooms more often and to take employee and patients’ temperatures to minimize risk. And certainly the client has to talk to their doctor and factor in whether they have any pre-existing conditions. I see going to therapy or for a follow up visit to a doctor in the current global pandemic situation to be a PERSONAL DECISION for the client of an injury case.
