The Cassidy Law Firm Blog

Saturday, November 13, 2021

The Role of Preexisting Medical Conditions in Personal Injury Claims

Medical records and documented medical history play a prominent role in personal injury claims. The insurance company will want your injuries and treatment thoroughly documented in order to pay out on your claim. While insurance companies may proclaim to be on your side, to be committed to helping people in a time of need, you may find the reality of dealing with an insurance company to be in stark contrast to this. In fact, insurance companies will use anything in your medical records or medical history to undermine the value of your claim or to deny your claim altogether. One of the most common ways insurance companies try to dismiss or undermine a claim is to use a person’s pre-existing medical conditions against them.

The Role of Preexisting Medical Conditions in Personal Injury Claims

Have you had injuries or medical conditions that needed treatment prior to your accident that led to your personal injury claim? The truth of the matter is that most of us have gone to a doctor looking for help with the aches and pains of life. To be clear, you still have a right to bring a personal injury claim even if you have pre-existing medical conditions. Never let anyone tell you otherwise, especially when this message comes from an insurance company.

While pre-existing medical conditions can complicate a personal injury claim, the claim can and should still proceed. Any harm you have suffered as a result of the accident can be included in your personal injury damages claim. That means that while you cannot get reimbursed for medical expenses relating to treatment of a preexisting condition, you can get compensated for any exacerbation of a pre-existing medical condition that was caused by the accident. It is important, however, for your treating physicians to be clear about what harm was caused by the accident and what conditions already existed in the patient. Clear notation of the difference in a person’s health condition before and after an accident can be powerful in supporting a personal injury claim.

In fact, not only can you bring a personal injury claim if you have pre-existing medical conditions, but you can bring a personal injury claim even if your preexisting conditions made you more susceptible to the harm you suffered as a result of the accident. This is because of the eggshell plaintiff doctrine. Even if a person’s preexisting conditions made him or her more vulnerable to accident injuries and someone else in a different state of health would not have sustained those same injuries, the accident injury victim is still entitled to compensation for harm suffered as a result of the accident.

New Jersey Personal Injury Attorneys

The team at the Cassidy Law Firm is committed to fighting for our injured clients and standing up to the big insurance companies who try to stop them from getting the compensation to which they are legally entitled. Contact us today.


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