Anyone that plans to hire a personal injury lawyer should have sustained some type of injury, or have reason to suspect the existence of such a medical problem. Ideally, the injured victim sought treatment, a fact that should have been added to the same victim’s medical records.
What evidence can be found in such medical records?
It shows what sort of treatment was received by the patient/victim, and when that treatment was given to the same patient. The record also indicates whether or not there were in any gaps in treatment. In addition, the record reveals any time that the patient failed to arrive for an appointment.
The 2 types of gaps
Gap between time of accident and the victim’s first visit with a physician; a large gap shows that the victim was slow to start treatment. A long span of time between treatments; that would indicate that the patient was not following the timeline that had been suggested by the doctor. Evidence of either type of gap can create problems for a personal injury lawyer. The defense team can use such facts to devalue a claim.
Acceptable reasons for a gap
Victims with an injury that had slow-to-appear symptoms would not suspect the existence of a problem until a fair amount of time, following the accident.
• The injured victim became sick, while undergoing the prescribed treatment.
• The same victim had to undergo some type of operation, while undergoing treatment.
• The treated patient had to visit a sick relative, or attend a relative’s funeral.
None of the above reasons would get viewed as an acceptable excuse for a gap, if the basis for the gap had not been documented. In other words, it pays to collect as much paperwork as possible, whenever a patient must deviate from a doctor’s instructions.
The significance of the physician’s instructions
An insurance company tries to devalue a claimant’s case, anytime that the medical records indicate the existence of a treatment gap. In other words, smart claimants focus on following a physician’s recommendations. Someone that has been in an accident should seek such recommendations if there is the slightest chance that the same person might have sustained a medical problem.
That fact underscores another reason that it pays to hire a Personal Injury Lawyer in Amherst. That should allow the client/claimant to get some objective advice, regarding the advisability of seeing a doctor. Claimants that do not visit a doctor’s office, a hospital or a clinic suggest that no injury has resulted from the reported accident.
Furthermore, the claimants’ doctors do not get informed, regarding the event that might have injured one of their patients. Naturally, an uninformed physician cannot offer much in the way of useful advice.
