Founding Attorney
Being involved in any kind of accident, whether it be a car, truck, motorcycle, or something else, can result in painful and lasting injuries. While the full force of your injuries may not present itself for hours or days after the accident, it is still important to seek immediate medical attention and evaluation of your injuries. Early intervention can be critical to properly addressing the harm you have suffered. Furthermore, consistent follow-up medical treatment can be crucial to ensuring you reach maximum medical improvement as quickly and smoothly as possible. In addition to your health and well-being, immediate and continuous medical treatment is also vital to the strength of your personal injury claim.
Gaps in Medical Treatment and Your Personal Injury Claim
After an accident, you should seek emergency medical evaluation. In some cases, an accident victim may only feel sore at first and not go in for such an evaluation until later on when the pain gets worse. The delay between the accident and seeking medical attention is one type of medical treatment gap that can be present in a personal injury claim. Other times, however, an accident victim may seek immediate medical attention and then, over the course of follow-up treatment, miss scheduled doctors’ appointments or delay in scheduling them at all. Extended period so time without receiving treatment for accident injuries is another type of treatment gap in a personal injury case.
With either type of treatment gap, the insurance company is sure to use it against the claimant. If you delay in seeking medical attention for your accident injuries, the insurance company will claim that you must not have been very hurt. If you missed doctors’ appointments and other follow-up treatment appointments, then you must not have been very hurt. We, of course, understand that there are many reasons for treatment gaps. Life gets in the way. Symptoms do not always fully present themselves right away. There are a number of reasons, other than a person not being very hurt, that can explain a gap in medical treatment following an accident.
While there are valid reasons for these gaps, insurance companies will persist in using them to undermine or even outright deny claims. In order to eliminate the force of a treatment gap being used against you, be clear with your attorney about why the gaps exist in the first place. Also, throughout the claims process, continue to document in a journal your injuries, your symptoms, the pain you are experiencing, and the impact your injuries are having on your life. Such documentation can be important in strengthening the validity of your claim and explaining any gaps in medical treatment. To be clear, treatment gaps may be hurdles to successfully recovering the compensation you deserve in a personal injury claim, but they are by no means insurmountable.
New York Personal Injury Attorney
Attorney Michael LoGiudice fights for the injured. He doesn’t let insurance companies try to get out of paying his clients full and fair compensation for the harm they have suffered. Contact us today.