After you have been involved in a motor vehicle accident or after you have sustained injuries as a result of someone else's negligence, navigating the claims or litigation process can be quite daunting. In almost every case, the first thing to do is to seek medical treatment. First and foremost, you want to seek out medical treatment so that your injuries can be assessed, evaluated and diagnosed, and a treatment plan can be established. Additionally, you want to seek out medical treatment so that your injuries can be documented close in time to the actual date of your accident. A delay in seeking medical treatment could hurt any claim you may have for damages, although some injuries do take time to manifest and only become apparent once things have calmed down.
It is important that you are open and honest with your doctors, physical therapists, chiropractors or any other medical professionals regarding your injury and any pain you may be experiencing. No matter how minor the pain or injury, each ailment needs to be appropriately treated and adequately documented. Furthermore, if you are experiencing pain or an injury do not tell your physician that you're "fine" or you're "ok", especially if you are really not. It is important for any potential personal injury claim or lawsuit that you inform your physician of activities that cause discomfort or pain, as well as which activities you were able to perform prior to your accident that you are now completely unable to perform or are limited in performing. Any tasks that are difficult to perform should also be fully discussed. You should do your best to keep all of your scheduled appointments with your medical provider so that you do not have missed appointments throughout the course of your treatment.
Your medical records are a good source of the history of your condition following the accident and, when submitted to the insurance companies or the court, provide a complete and accurate picture of your injury.. M records are one of the most important documents in a personal injury case in that they provide a running tally of your treatment, your progress and your health following an accident and are the basis by which insurance companies determine your injuries and how much you should be compensated when your injuries were caused by someone else's negligence.
This blog post was written by Chamille Kittles. Chamille is a personal injury lawyer with the law firm Price Benowitz LLP. In addition to Chamille, the law firm also has a Virginia personal injury lawyer and DC personal injury lawyer to assist clients in those jurisdictions.
