Pre-existing Medical Conditions and Your Personal Injury Claim

When you sustain an injury in an automobile accident and you file a personal injury claim the insurance company of the party at fault is bound to process your claim. There can, however, be an argument by the insurance company that the injury sustained by you has been resulted due to a pre-existing medical condition.

Upon suspecting that the injury incurred has been a result of a pre-existing condition the insurance company of the party at fault can demand your medical history legally with a subpoena and try to identify any similar injury sustained by you in the past. If the insurance company is able to prove the occurrence of the current injury as an effect of a pre-existing condition, the amount of your recoverable damages may be considerably reduced.

If the injuries sustained by you in the current car accident are similar to the ones you have suffered in the past, the diver at fault may try to escape liability by citing pre-existing conditions. However, this is not always possible for the driver at fault. In such a case you will be required to defend your argument that the present injury has been caused only due to the current car accident.

Proving Your Injury

You will have to thoroughly review your medical records and provide the testimony of doctors and other experts to strengthen your case. If a previous injury or condition has been completely healed and you have the details on your medical records and the doctor's testimony, you will not have any trouble in proving that the condition was not pre-existing.

If you have a medical history of sustaining a similar injury in the past like the one incurred in the current car accident, the attorney for the party at fault has to prove that the previous injury has an effect on the current injury. This is generally done with the help of doctor's testimony. During the course of treatment of the current injury your doctor may find some other degenerative condition, like arthritis, that was not on your medical history.

In such a case, the new finding i.e. arthritis may be considered an incidental finding and it may not affect your recoverable damages. You will, however, have to defend your stand regarding your medical history. You will be required to convince the jury that the injury incurred has been caused only due to the current car accident and that your medical history or any pre-existing medical condition has no effect on the cause of the current injury.

Legal Help

The insurance companies do not like to part with their funds and they will try to limit the damages payable. In a personal injury claim, you should not try to challenge the insurance company on your own. If you have sustained injuries in a car accident, you should immediately seek help of a St. Louis Car Accident Lawyer to ensure that you receive the appropriate amount of compensation for your injuries.

Call (314) 361-4242 to speak with an attorney.