6 Things You Can Do To Help Win Your Personal Injury Lawsuit: Part 5 - When To Listen To Your Doctor, and When Not To

     During this blog series, we have discussed the importance of communicating with your physician about your injuries and symptoms. We've discussed the importance of listening to your doctor and following his or her instructions. But there are certain situations in which listening to your doctor may be harmful to your claim.



     Doctors are highly trained and educated in the field of medicine, and they put their expertise to work in order to help heal their patients and ensure their patients are healthy. When a patient presents to a doctor with an injury, the doctor will likely prescribe a certain course of treatment. This can range anywhere from rest to exercises, from medication to surgery, and everything in between. When a doctor instructs you on a course of treatment, he or she is using his or her training, education and experience in deciding what course of treatment to prescribe. While it is important to listen and, in most cases, follow your doctor's instructions to the letter, it is also important to know that you can use your own common sense and experience when considering your doctor's instructions.

     Open dialogue between a doctor and his or her patient will almost always result in a better understanding of the injury or illness and, therefore, a better decision on a course of treatment. If the instructions given by your doctor don't seem to make sense to you, or if you have questions about it, it is important to speak up. Ask your doctor questions. Ask your doctor why he or she believes the prescribed course of treatment will work. Ask your doctor if there are other options available and what the pro's and con's of each course of treatment are. Ultimately your doctor will give you instructions, but it is your responsibility to follow through with them.

     In some situations, it may be advisable to disregard your doctor's instructions. Just like anyone else, each doctor may have different opinions on things, including treatment for injuries or illnesses. Some doctors may prefer a conservative, or "wait and see" course of treatment, some doctors may favor surgical intervention, and some doctors may prefer other forms of treatment. If, during your visit, the treatment your doctor is prescribing doesn't seem to make sense to you, you are well within your rights to seek a second opinion from another physician. You may also want to seek out a physician with a different specialty; maybe one that more specifically fits the symptoms you are exhibiting.

     Remember, medical treatment is a two way street. Communication is key and don't be afraid to ask questions. As always, you may also seek the advice of an attorney.

*This is attorney advertising, and is not intended to be taken as legal advice, nor is it intended to create an attorney-client relationship. Any advice given in the preceding statement is given as general advice and is not intended to be relied upon as legal advice for any specific scenarios. For specific advice, or for answers to your questions, call Eckert & Smestad (312-789-4810) or call a qualified attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.

6 Things You Can Do To Help Win Your Personal Injury Lawsuit - Part 4: Chiropractors

           This entry will be focused on the involvement of chiropractors in your medical treatment and how it relates to your personal injury case. It is very common for people who suffer injuries to their neck or back to seek treatment from a chiropractor after an incident. After all, chiropractors work on the neck and back and are often times more affordable than going to a hospital, M.D. or orthopedic physician. It is very important to understand the role chiropractic treatment plays in building a personal injury case and establishing injuries and damages.

            While chiropractic medicine has certainly made some incredible advances in the last several decades, it can be viewed skeptically by the judges, juries, and insurance companies. Remember, these are ultimately the ones who will need to be convinced in order to maximize the value of your case. Injured people will oftentimes focus on what seems to be the cheapest, quickest fix for their injuries, or rely on advice from friends or family and go visit a chiropractor. This often times will cause a problem later on in the case when trying to prove the extent of injuries and pain and suffering, as well as connecting the injuries to the incident.

            This is not to say chiropractic medicine is without its merit, nor is it to say that one should not visit a chiropractor to treat injuries involved in a personal injury case. Chiropractors can very often be extremely helpful in providing relief for injuries and any negative impacts on one’s personal injury case can be mitigated simply by obtaining an order for chiropractic treatment from your primary care physician, an orthopedic physician, or another medical doctor and periodically following up with this doctor throughout your chiropractic treatment.

            The final take home lesson is simply this: for purposes of improving your odds on winning your personal injury case, if you are going to see a chiropractor to treat your injuries, couple your chiropractor visits with routine follow up visits to your primary care doctor or orthopedic surgeon. Remember, your personal injury case begins immediately after the incident.

*This is attorney advertising, and is not intended to be taken as legal advice, nor is it intended to create an attorney-client relationship. Any advice given in the preceding statement is given as general advice and is not intended to be relied upon as legal advice for any specific scenarios. For specific advice, or for answers to your questions, call Eckert & Smestad (312-789-4810) or call a qualified attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.

6 Things You Can Do To Help Win Your Personal Injury Lawsuit - Part 3: Tell Your Doctor Everything

     Part 3 of our 6 part series on how to prevent problems in your personal injury lawsuit follows part 2 nicely. When you visit your doctor for treatment, make sure you tell your doctor everything. A very important step in establishing your injury, in creating hard evidence to prove that you were in fact injured, comes from talking with your doctor.

    When someone first sees a doctor on any visit, the doctor will more often than not take what is called a "history" from the patient. This basically means they are asking the patient why he/she came in, is the patient suffering from any problems (pains, illnesses, etc), and if so, when did they start and how did they come about. While the patient is giving his/her history, the physician is writing down what the patient is saying. It is very important that the patient gives a complete and accurate history to the physician. This is important for two reasons: 1. an accurate and complete history is necessary for the doctor to come to an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan (if the doctor doesn't know what is wrong, he can't very well treat it); and 2. this written history makes it onto the medical record, which will act as hard evidence of the injury later.

     Every personal injury lawsuit will require the injured party to be able to prove that he/she is injured, and hard evidence in the form of medical records goes a long way to help. Certainly the injured party will testify, assuming he/she is able to, that he/she was injured and will talk about his/her injuries at trial. However, judges and juries will often look at plaintiffs skeptically.

     Think about it this way: You are telling 12 people who don't know you that you were injured because of the Defendant and you should be compensated. Most members of the jury have likely heard a story or two about some plaintiff faking an injury, or have heard about frivolous lawsuits, or know someone who knows someone who won millions of dollars in a lawsuit. If the jury can't physically see the effects of your injuries, they will very likely think that you might be trying to get rich, or that you are faking the extent of your injuries. Even if this isn't true, as a plaintiff' it is your burden of proof; you must first prove all the elements of your case with a "preponderance of the evidence," including your injuries and the extent of the pain and suffering you suffered.

     Medical records will help to support your testimony about your injuries. You testify that you suffered head injuries in a construction accident and were extremely dizzy and nauseous after the incident. When the jury views your medical records they will see what you told the doctor you were suffering from. If the history in your medical records says you were involved in a construction accident and were complaining of dizziness and nausea, then the jury will see that your story has been independently corroborated. If they see that the medical records only mention that you told the doctor you had a headache, they jury will think that the medical records contradict your story and your credibility will suffer.

    So remember, tell your doctor everything. Tell your doctor about how your injury occurred, when it happened, and report to your doctor all of your symptoms, whether you think they are minor or not. Let the doctor figure out if your complaints are major or minor.

*This is attorney advertising, and is not intended to be taken as legal advice, nor is it intended to create an attorney-client relationship. Any advice given in the preceding statement is given as general advice and is not intended to be relied upon as legal advice for any specific scenarios. For specific advice, or for answers to your questions, call Eckert & Smestad (312-789-4810) or call a qualified attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.

6 Things You Can Do To Help Win Your Personal Injury Lawsuit - Part 2: Don't Wait to See A Doctor

     When you are involved in a personal injury claim or lawsuit, you will be judged by the "reasonable person" standard. This standard can be very hard to meet, because it is often subjective (based upon who is applying the standard to you) and because most people believe they always behave as reasonable people do. However, one of the easiest ways to "act like a reasonable person" when you are injured is to seek medical treatment and seek it without delay.

     Keep in mind that, while there are many many reasons to go to a doctor when you are hurt, this article will only discuss the legal perspectives on seeking medical treatment.

     Defense attorneys and insurance companies, two groups that you will very likely be fighting against while pursuing your personal injury claim, will examine your actions leading up to and after the incident for evidence of your injuries. They will be trying to find a way to either avoid paying out on your claim. A very common technique is to establish that you were not, in fact, injured (or at least not hurt as severely as you claim) because you did not seek medical attention or waited too long before you sought medical treatment.

     It is an argument that is made in almost every personal injury claim or lawsuit: "If (the injured person) was actually hurt, or was hurt as bad as he/she claims, why didn't he/she go to the doctor immediately?" or "why did he/she wait so long before following up with a doctor, or receiving further treatment?" Now there certainly may be many reasons why you didn't go to a doctor or hospital immediately: scheduling difficulties, financial concerns, not wanting to go to a doctor unless it is absolutely necessary. While these reasons may seem perfectly reasonable to you, they may not seem perfectly reasonable to a judge or jury.

     If you think you may have been injured due to the fault of another, and you are not sure if you should go to a physician, remember this: "when a reasonable person is injured, a reasonable person gets medical treatment as soon as possible, and continues to get treatment until they are healed." This is the standard you will be held to by the judge, the jury, the defense attorneys and the insurance companies, so remember it and make your life a little easier.

*This is attorney advertising, and is not intended to be taken as legal advice, nor is it intended to create an attorney-client relationship. Any advice given in the preceding statement is given as general advice and is not intended to be relied upon as legal advice for any specific scenarios. For specific advice, or for answers to your questions, call Eckert & Smestad (312-789-4810) or call a qualified attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.

The Importance of Following Up with Your Doctor

     Here is a situation that occurs all too often: Someone gets hurt.  They go to the emergency room, or their primary care doctor.  When the physician asks them about what is wrong, they play tough and give a general answer, and don't share all of the symptoms they are having.  Or the doctor instructs them to return in a week, or two weeks, but several weeks, even months go by, before they make an appointment and come back to see the doctor, complaining that the pain is still there.  Sometimes the doctor will instruct them to get an MRI, an X-ray, get physical therapy, and they put it off and never actually follow the doctor's orders.  There are three common problems illustrated in this scenario: 1. Failing to fully disclose all symptoms to the treating physician; 2. Failing to make follow up appointments with their physician timely; and 3. Failing to follow their physician's instructions.

     As if it isn't obvious, it is extremely important to listen to, and be completely honest with, your physician or hospital staff once an injury has occurred.  For many this is obvious.  However, very often life can get in the way of timely following up with your physician.  Failing to follow your doctor's instructions, make follow up appointments, make all complaints known to your doctor, or return for additional treatment when symptoms persist can have dire consequences, both for your health and any potential claim you may have for personal injuries.

     The most important reason that you should be fully upfront with your physicians, and follow the doctor's instructions, is for your own health.  A doctor can't feel what is going on in your body.  He or she doesn't know if you're having neck pain, or shoulder pain, or leg pain, or numbness, or whatever the symptom unless you tell your doctor.  And if he or she doesn't know about the symptom, he or she cannot possibly provide an accurate diagnosis or treatment to make the pain go away.  The longer an injury, no matter how slight you think it is, goes undiagnosed, the more likely it is to become a serious or chronic condition, requiring more invasive and extensive medical treatment to heal.

     If your doctor instructs you to return in a few weeks, or instructs you to seek physical therapy, or radiological tests, it is because he or she believes that this is necessary for your injuries to heal properly. If you don't follow your doctor's instructions, it is extremely likely that your injuries will not heal properly, and again, they could easily become serious or chronic conditions.

     The second reason to be fully upfront with your physician, and follow their instructions, is to protect your rights.  If you are injured, and the injury gives rise to a claim, you have certain rights inherent in that claim.  The medical records your physician creates when you visit are the evidence of your injury and of the treatment the injury required.  It is not enough to simply say "I was injured, pay me."  If it was that easy everyone in the country would be broke, for constantly paying out on injury claims.  Injured parties have the burden to prove they were injured, to what extent they were injured, and that the medical treatment they received was reasonable for their injuries.

     When a claim is made, the insurance company investigating the claim will be looking for any reason they can find to either not pay or pay less than they should.  This is their business.  One of the most cited excuses given by insurance companies for denying claims, or refusing to pay the full value of a claim, is because of gaps in the medical treatment (meaning weeks going by without a follow up appointment), inconsistencies in the patient's complaints to their physicians, and failure to follow a physician's instructions.  Unfortunately, the reason this is effective is because juries generally don't look upon these things favorably.  To a jury when a reasonable person is injured (reasonable person being the legal standard applied by juries to most civil cases), he or she will be completely honest with their physician and report ALL of their symptoms.  To a jury a reasonable person will continue to make regular appointments with their doctors until their symptoms have completely healed.  To a jury a reasonable person will listen to their doctor and follow their doctor's instructions completely.  Whatever reason you may have for not being completely honest, or not following your doctor's instructions, or not making timely follow up appointments, a jury will likely not pay attention.  They have already heard what they need.

    When you are injured, your job is to heal.  Do your job and let your doctor help you.  When you are injured, the insurance companies job is to take diminish your claim.  Don't do their job for them.  As always, if you are injured and you believe it was due to the negligence of another party, make sure you speak with a licensed and competent attorney.

*This is attorney advertising, and is not intended to be taken as legal advice, nor is it intended to create an attorney-client relationship. Any advice given in the preceding statement is given as general advice and is not intended to be relied upon as legal advice for any specific scenarios. For specific advice, or for answers to your questions, call Eckert & Smestad (312-789-4810) or call a qualified attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.