If you have suffered an injury from a car accident, slip and fall, or any other incident, you need to get medical treatment. What happens, though, if you fail to seek medical treatment within a few days of being injured? Does this nullify your personal injury claim? Actually, no, but there are important things to note.
Importance of Medical Documentation
Medical records form a critical piece of evidence in any personal injury case. They establish the link of your injuries to the incident and identify the nature and range of your damage. Without that documentation, it may be a little bit more difficult to prove that the injury occurred due to the accident that has taken place, but certainly not impossible.
Key Points:
Delayed Symptoms: Some types of injuries, such as whiplash, concussion, or internal injuries, can be completely painless at the scene of the accident. If you did not seek medical attention when the accident happened, you should now be seeking one.
Gaps in Documentation: The longer it takes to see a doctor, the harder it becomes to directly link an accident and resulting injuries. This is exactly what insurers pine for to argue cases of injury relation or severity reduction.
Why People Do Not Seek Medical Treatment Immediately
People tend to shun doctors right after an accident because:
Minimizing the Injury: You may feel that the injury is minor and will resolve on its own.
Fear of Medical Expenses: The thought of a large medical bill may lead you to refrain from seeking care immediately, if uninsured or underinsured and bearing high deductible costs for treatment.
Shock or Adrenaline: Your body may go into shock after an accident, which may delay the sensation of pain or other symptoms until later.
How to Build Your Injury Case
Even if you did not visit a doctor immediately, there are a number of things you may still like to do in support of your personal injury case:
Get admitted to the hospital: If you feel you are suffering from a few symptoms, do not delay in visiting a doctor. You will be better off in establishing a link of your injuries with the incident with an early diagnosis.
Maintain a Symptom Diary: Record any symptoms in daily notes. An adequate record of symptoms will provide proof that your condition has been persistent over time, thereby helping bridge the gap between the time of the accident and when you finally sought medical care.
Collect Witness Statements: If there were any witnesses to the accident or people who noted your symptoms, their statements will help back your claim.
Discuss with an Attorney: A personal injury attorney will gather supporting evidence, including medical records and testimony from field experts, to substantiate your claim.
How Insurance Companies See Delayed Medical Treatment
Insurance companies exist to part with the least amount of money possible. When there’s a delay in seeking medical treatment, they often argue that:
Your injury can’t be that bad: If it were, you’d have gone to the doctor at the first opportunity.
The injury does not relate to the accident: The longer time elapses between the accident and your seeing a doctor, the more likely they are going to argue that something else is causing your injuries.
It is very important then that you have a very effective legal advocate that can argue counter such arguments effectively.
Legal Precedents and Exceptions
There are legal precedents wherein courts have decided in favor of plaintiffs who did not immediately seek medical help. Very often, such cases are decided on the basis of expert testimony, which links the early report of the injury to the accident, despite the delay in treatment. There are some cases, though, where the courts take into account that the nature of the injury or the condition of the victim would allow a reasonable excuse for the delay.
Meeting with a doctor after an injury right away is a way to build your case, but it’s not at all impossible to proceed with a personal injury claim if you didn’t. The key is through acting promptly after you realize the extent of your injuries and working with a knowledgeable personal injury attorney who will piece together a strong case for you.
So, in other words, if you have been hurt, and you don’t know what to do, call our law firm today for a free consultation so that you know your rights and the best course of action to make sure you get the compensation you deserve.