Car accidents create a myriad of problems. Your car is damaged and needs repairs. You or others in the car with you may be injured and require medical treatment. You might miss work for days, weeks, or even months. Whatever you planned to do when the accident happened will be delayed or never done. You are forced to give up time and money that were meant for other things so you can deal with the accident instead. Things become even more complicated when you already have an injury or condition that is made worse by the accident. How do you prove that the accident made a pre-existing condition worse? Can you be compensated for pre-existing conditions in a car accident? If so, how do you separate the accident costs from the costs of the condition before the accident? At Lott Law, our experienced Mississippi car accident attorneys may be able to answer all these questions and others with a review of your case. Call (228) 215-2787 to schedule a consultation and learn more.
What Are Pre-Existing Conditions?
Pre-existing conditions are medical conditions that exist before a specific point in time or event. In this case, there are conditions that existed before a car accident. These conditions can be chronic conditions like heart disease, medical conditions currently being managed with medication or treatment, injuries or illnesses that were diagnosed or treated in the past, or pregnancy.
A pre-existing condition can vary in severity. Additionally, the condition may or may not have been previously diagnosed or treated. For example, someone who has lower back pain may not have seen a healthcare provider about it before being in a car accident that makes the lower back pain worse. Whether the pre-existing condition was diagnosed before the accident or not, car accident victims may wish to consult with an attorney to gain a more thorough understanding of their rights and responsibilities regarding their injuries.
What Kind of Pre-Existing Conditions Can Be Worsened By a Car Accident
A car accident can worsen almost any injury, illness, or chronic condition. Some possible pre-existing conditions that can be further exacerbated by car accidents include:
- Back and Neck Injuries: Chronic back pain, herniated or bulging discs, or whiplash can all be made more severe by the force of the car accident or by new injuries to the same areas.
- Arthritis: Damage to joints, cartilage, or bones can trigger arthritis pain, accelerate the development of arthritis, or exacerbate the pain the individual was feeling before or at the time of the accident.
- Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD): A car accident can increase the disc compression and nerve irritation of DDD, worsening the symptoms.
- Bone Problems: Previous fractures may re-break, and individuals with osteoporosis may suffer more severe bone breaks due to the brittleness caused by the condition.
- Fibromyalgia: The impact and stress of car accidents can trigger or worsen symptoms.
- Mental Health: Anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can all be triggered or worsened by the stress and trauma of a car accident.
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): New brain injuries can worsen an existing TBI from a car accident or create new conditions as a result of multiple injuries.
- Nerve Damage: New injuries can aggravate existing nerve damage, causing or increasing pain, tingling, numbness, or burning sensations. They may also cause more weakness or loss of function in the affected area or heightened sensitivity to temperature or touch.
- Heart and Cardiovascular Issues: The stress and physical strain of a car accident can worsen heart conditions by causing direct physical trauma, such as bruising or tearing of the heart muscle or coronary arteries, or damage to the heart valves. Blunt chest trauma can cause arrhythmias or heart failure, and a forceful blow to the chest during a heartbeat could cause someone with heart trouble to go into cardiac arrest.
- Diabetes: Stress-induced hypoglycemia is the most common way a car accident can worsen diabetes, caused by the stress response in the injured individual, according to the National Library of Medicine. However, the trauma can also exacerbate pre-existing diabetes complications that the individual has or disrupt daily diabetes management routines, creating complications.
- Cancer: Sometimes, a medical exam after a car accident reveals that an individual has cancer. While car accidents do not cause cancer, the stress of the accident or injuries sustained near the tumor may exacerbate inflammation, which may contribute to the growth of some cancer tumors, diagnosed or not.
Can I Receive Compensation for Pre-Existing Conditions After a Car Accident?
Individuals cannot be compensated merely for having pre-existing conditions when they are in a car accident. However, they can be compensated if the accident aggravates or worsens the condition. Mississippi uses the eggshell rule regarding damages for injuries. This rule indicates that the at-fault driver must take the victim in as-is condition when the accident happens. In other words, the fact that the victim is more vulnerable to injury does not eliminate or reduce the liable driver’s responsibility.
While pre-existing conditions do not reduce the other driver’s liability, it is crucial to understand how compensation for them works. Car accident victims can be compensated for pre-existing conditions that are worsened, but that compensation is only for the damages caused by the accident. They cannot be compensated for treatments, medications, exams, or other condition-related expenses that occurred before the accident or for any that are not accident-related. For example, if the individual is already seeing a chiropractor once a month for lower back pain, and that pain is made worse by the accident and they now see the chiropractor once a week, the individual can be compensated for the additional visits, but not for the monthly visit that they would have had without the accident.
How Insurance Companies May Try to Limit the Payout for Pre-Existing Conditions After a Car Accident
While car accident victims can be compensated for pre-existing conditions made worse by the accident, car insurance companies often try to limit the amount they pay for those conditions. Insurance companies may use several tactics to avoid paying out for injuries related to pre-existing conditions.
Claiming the Condition Was Pre-Existing
Even though the insurance company knows it is liable for the aggravation or worsening of pre-existing conditions in a car accident, it may first try to claim the condition was pre-existing. This may then be used to dispute all the injuries the victim sustained in an effort to prove that they are all pre-existing or that they are not as severe as they are, to reduce compensation. This is why medical records can be vital in car accident claims.
Denying That the Condition Was Worsened
Another tactic is to claim that the car accident did not worsen the condition. This often involves using medical records to try to show that the victim’s description of the aggravated or worsened symptoms matches previous descriptions given to healthcare providers before the accident.
Demanding Extensive Medical Records
Medical records can give insurance companies a lot of information about the victim, so they will often try to demand extensive records, covering parts of the victim’s health that are irrelevant to the car accident or going back many years, or even decades. They may use a statement given to a healthcare provider years ago that the condition was cured, better, fine, or that the individual “felt great” to claim that the condition no longer existed and could not have been aggravated. Individuals should consider consulting with a Mississippi car accident attorney at Lott Law before signing any medical release forms to ensure they do not give the insurance company more medical records than they need.
Inconsistent Statements From the Victim
Insurance companies will also scour medical records, police reports, victim statements, and other accident-related documents for inconsistent statements from the victim. These can include statements such as the victim telling law enforcement or paramedics that they feel fine at the accident scene, or medical records that indicate pre-existing conditions were no longer an issue. This is why it is recommended that car accident victims refrain from saying they are fine or okay at the accident scene and do not simply sign a medical release giving access to all of their medical records.
Potential Damages for Pre-Existing Conditions
The potential damages for pre-existing conditions in a car accident are similar to those for new injuries. Individuals may be able to receive compensation for:
- Medical bills and ongoing expenses beyond routine treatment
- Lost wages and benefits
- Disability
- Disfigurement and scarring
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Wrongful death, if the accident is fatal
The main difference between these damages and those for new injuries is that compensation for new injuries covers all of the damages. In contrast, pre-existing conditions damages will only cover damages caused by the accident, which may not be all the treatment and care that the condition requires. There will likely be extensive negotiations as both sides determine what part of these damages are due to the car accident and what part the individual would have dealt with had they not been in the accident. Specific treatments and other medical expenses may have been incurred. The individual may have lost some wages and benefits due to the condition, without being in the accident. Those expenses must be sorted out so that the victim is only compensated for the aggravation or worsening of their condition.
Protect Your Right to Compensation
After a car accident, individuals must protect their right to compensation, whether for new injuries or pre-existing conditions. The steps taken to protect that right are basically the same for new and pre-existing conditions.
Seek Medical Attention Immediately
Immediate medical attention is advised after any car accident. This is crucial for diagnosing any new injuries resulting from the accident and documenting any changes to a pre-existing condition. While it matters for new injuries, it can be critical to seek immediate medical attention when the individual has a pre-existing condition. The longer the individual waits before seeking medical care, the harder it may be to prove the connection between the accident and the changes to their condition.
Be Honest Regarding Your Medical History
Individuals may be tempted to deny a pre-existing condition, fearing they will not receive compensation if they admit it. However, this fear is unfounded because Mississippi law allows them to receive compensation for pre-existing conditions. If the individual fails to disclose the pre-existing injury and that information comes to light later, their credibility is damaged, and everything they have said is called into question. Therefore, it is better to be honest regarding the individual’s medical history to ensure they do not jeopardize their compensation.
Sometimes, a pre-existing condition has not been diagnosed yet when the car accident occurs. In these cases, no medical record proves it is a pre-existing condition. Individuals facing this issue should consult with legal counsel to determine how best to acknowledge this injury.
Obtain Opinions From Medical Experts
While pre-existing conditions are compensable in a car accident, they can complicate the calculations of that compensation. Determining the condition’s status before and after the accident and sorting out what expenses would have been incurred even if there had been no accident and which ones are the result of the accident can be difficult and time-consuming. Medical experts can help with this, however.
Individuals should obtain opinions from medical experts about their condition. These experts typically have the education and knowledge required to examine past and current medical records, perform exams, and discern the indications that the condition was made worse.
Keep Detailed Medical and Other Records
In any car accident, it is essential to keep detailed medical and other records regarding the individual’s injuries. Keeping these detailed records may be even more critical when the individual has pre-existing conditions. These details will be used to prove that the pre-existing condition was aggravated or made worse.
Individuals should include details regarding pain levels, any loss of function, inability to perform activities of daily living, hobbies or sports the individual has had to stop engaging in, and other details that can paint a vivid picture of how their life has changed as a result of their condition worsening after the car accident. Victims may also want to have a spouse, older children, or other loved ones or friends keep notes about how they have been impacted by the change in the victim’s condition. For example, if the spouse has had to take a second job to make up for lost wages or take on a caregiver role that they did not have before, these details can also assist in determining compensation.
Avoid Signing Medical Releases or Other Documents Without Legal Guidance
As part of negotiations, settlement agreements, or discovery in a lawsuit, car accident victims may be asked to sign various documents, including medical releases for access to their medical records. While it may seem harmless to sign these documents, particularly if the victim reads them first, it may do more harm than good. A blanket medical release will give the insurance company or the other party’s attorney access to all of the victim’s medical records, including those that have nothing to do with the accident. Other documents may make the victim agree to terms that are unfavorable to them, or bind them to actions that they would not want to be bound to, such as being bound to mediation or arbitration instead of being able to file a lawsuit.
Before signing any document provided by the other party’s attorney or insurance company, victims should consider seeking their own legal counsel to review the document and confirm that it says what the victim believes it should say, or have them explain any terms the victim does not understand. An attorney may also be able to advise the victim about whether signing the document will harm their claim and what to say or do if signing the document is not in the victim’s best interest.
File Your Claim Before the Statute of Limitations Expires
Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-49 is Mississippi’s statute of limitations and provides victims three years from the accident date to file their claim. Once the statute of limitations expires, the claim is barred, and the victim cannot file a lawsuit or receive compensation.
Car accidents are complicated; determining injuries, gathering evidence, and all the other steps involved in negotiating and settling a claim or taking a lawsuit to court can take much longer than expected. Individuals should speak with an attorney and file their claim as soon as possible after the accident to allow ample time for their case to be adequately prepared, negotiated, and, if necessary, litigated in court. Once the case has been officially filed with the court system, the hearing can occur after the statute of limitations has expired, but the case must be filed in time.
How a Mississippi Car Accident Attorney May Help
Dealing with car accidents is complicated enough when you have only gotten new injuries from the accident. When you have pre-existing conditions that have been impacted, a car accident can become much trickier. The liable party and their insurance company may try to deny responsibility for the pre-existing condition, claim it was not affected, or search for other reasons to deny your claim. An experienced Mississippi car accident attorney at Lott Law may be able to help you find medical records, keep notes, and gather other evidence that will assist you in pursuing the compensation you are entitled to under the law. Call (228) 215-2787 to schedule a consultation and learn more about protecting and asserting your rights.
