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After a car accident - Bodily injury over an pre-existing injury-how to I get compensated?
Anonymous7 views4 answers
Car accident at the other party's fault. Their insurance company is trying to cover the fees. 1. About a week before the accident, I injured my right leg--went to hospital, but didn't get an X-ray because I was walking fine. The leg was bruised and had punctured and scraped skin damages.The leg was swollen, but walking was fine, and I could fold the leg. 2. When the accident happened, I was in the passenger seat and my knees hit the dashboard (no airbag deployed). My left leg clearly bruised and bled a bit. The right leg had already had so much bruises, I couldn't see the damages. The next day of the accident, my knees swelled a lot more, and I saw a doctor. The dr said the right knee had fluid filled. I got 4 X-ray shots-no bone or ligament damage. The sides of the knee was painful when touched (due to fluid). Walking was uncomfortable, and the leg was too swollen to fold. 3. I know that I can ask for the medical fee for the doctor's visit. I am not sure if I should end there or ask for more. I am afraid of more damage. It has been 16 days since the accident, and my leg is a little better, but still has the same pain and symptoms.
As mentioned, you need to consult with an attorney and look to retain their services, or at the very least get a consultation.
Your case has a few additional layers that require the service of an attorney.
You may have sufficient medical records establishing a baseline of your knee prior to the accident. Damage to the vehicle, photos of the damage, incident report, etc. can help you establish a new injury or an aggravation of the prior injury.
A big factor will be the medical treatment you would have required without the accident vs after the accident. Your medical records should help in that department so you can establish that current and future medical treatment is for an injury resulting from the accident and not for a pre existing injurg.
In any event, contact an attorney as the devil is always in the details.
An exacerbation of a pre-existing injury is still compensable.
Your best bet to obtain the maximum injury settlement amount in this case is to consult immediately with an attorney in your area to obtain a more specific answer and get all of your legal options before deciding what to do and then also complete all medical treatment necessary for any injuries you received. The attorney will also investigate any liability issue and check for all available coverages to ensure you have the maximum amount of coverages available to you. You may have some coverages on your own auto policy as well that can assist you. You can use the "Find a Lawyer" link at the top of this page for the names of attorneys in your area. Most offer a free consultation and work on a contingency fee basis, so you won’t have to pay anything up front.
Please do not message me for further advice or call my former law firm if you have any further questions. If you are in need of an attorney to assist you, please search for another attorney in the jurisdiction involved in your case, as I am now retired, and my former law firm is no longer handling these types of cases. I am active on and answer questions only as a public service at this point.
IMPORTANT: No attorney-client relationship is formed through interaction with this attorney on this public forum. The contents of any comment or response should be considered general conversational discourse on the topic identified and NOT specific legal advice or analysis that might apply to your situation. If you rely upon any part of the content of this response in making any decision or pursuing any course of action, you do so at your own risk and without recourse against this attorney or law firm.
Good luck!
When pre-existing injuries are aggravated, determining what your baseline was prior to the collision often is crucial. In many instances, attempting to show how much your underlying injury was exacerbated requires the help of a treating physician who can provide a report and his or her opinions on such matters. Often, these claims can be some of the most difficult ones to pursue. As such, I would recommend that you seek an experienced personal injury attorney licensed to practice in your state to assist you in pursuing your injury claims. That attorney will likely be able to give you advice more specific to your case than the generic information I have listed above, which may or may not apply in your case. Best of luck.
Claims involving the exacerbation of a pre-existing condition are something experienced personal injury attorneys deal with frequently. I suggest you use the "find a lawyer" tool and seek out counsel in your area. Read reviews and pick accordingly.
