How Does Your Pre-Existing Condition Impact Your Personal Injury Case?

Let’s face it­­­—- not many of us have experienced absolutely flawless health throughout our lives. Most people—if they live long enough—will deal with some type of physical ailment or injury.  It may be a “crunchy” neck, a bad back, a bad knee. The cause may be a traumatic injury, wear and tear, or the degenerative changes that come with aging. A person may seek treatment for a particular condition, or simply decide to live with it.

Similarly, a good number of people have suffered– or suffer– from a mental health or psychological condition, such as anxiety or depression. Again, some people may seek psychological and/or psychiatric care, while others manage the condition on their own.

Whether physical or psychological, such conditions are known as “pre-existing conditions.” You may hear about pre-existing conditions in several different contexts, including health insurance.  This piece is about pre-existing conditions within the context of a Palm Beach County personal injury case.

What Is A “Pre-Existing Condition” Under Florida Personal Injury Law?

In the context of a car accident or other personal injury case, a pre-existing condition is defined as any health condition you had before the accident. This could be anything from:

• A chronic physical ailment or illness;
• A chronic mental health condition, such as anxiety or depression;
• A physical injury you previously had, but recovered from, before the accident;
• A physical injury you were recovering from at the time of the accident

“Aggravation” or “Exacerbation” of a Pre-Existing Condition in a Palm Beach County Personal Injury Case

A car accident or other personal injury incident can worsen your pre-existing condition. As a matter of fact, because you were already in a compromised physical and/or mental condition at the time of the accident/incident, it is likely you were more vulnerable to injury. Suffering another injury on top of your pre-existing condition may absolutely have been the last thing you needed. The new injury could very well be the crowning blow.

The worsening of your injury or condition due to an accident or other incident is referred to as an “exacerbation” or “aggravation” of your pre-existing condition. An aggravated pre-existing condition can:

• Medically complicate your prior condition;
• Accelerate your deterioration;
• Propel you to require more medical care;
• Increase your medical bills and expenses
• Cause you to suffer other economic losses caused by the aggravation.

Can You Bring a Personal Injury Case If Someone’s Negligence Aggravates Your Pre-Existing Condition?

Let’s say:

• You had a bad knee but you were living with it (maybe taking a pain-reliever every now and then);
• Then you banged the same knee in a car accident, caused by someone else’s negligence;
• Your doctor tells you that the trauma from the accident further damaged your knee, and you now need knee surgery;

Have you forfeited your right to be compensated for the aggravation of your knee injury, simply because your knee was damaged before the accident?

Recovering Damages in Florida for Aggravation of a Pre-Existing Condition

Florida law allows a person with a pre-existing condition to receive compensation for that pre-existing condition, to the degree that the accident made the condition worse.  For example, in the above scenario, you would be entitled to compensation for the exacerbation or aggravation of your knee, including your knee surgery, rehabilitation, and other related losses.

Here’s another example:

Let’s say:

• You were already taking prescription pain medication for a bad back;
• A slip and fall made your back injuries so much worse, that you had to start physical therapy;

You would be entitled to recover damages for the cost of the physical therapy, but not for the pain pills you were already taking.

What If It’s Impossible to Determine the Extent of The Aggravation?

Sometimes it is difficult to establish the degree to which the accident aggravated the preexisting injury or condition. In such cases, Florida Standard Jury Instruction 501.5, instructs a jury on how to consider the issue. The instruction reads, as follows:

Florida Standard Jury Instruction

501.5 OTHER CONTRIBUTING CAUSES OF DAMAGES

1. Aggravation or activation of disease or defect:

If you find that the defendants caused a bodily injury, and that the injury resulted in an aggravation of an existing disease or physical defect or activation of a latent disease or physical defect, you should attempt to determine what portion of the claimant’s condition resulted from the aggravation or activation. If you can make that determination, then you should award only those damages resulting from the aggravation or activation. However, if you cannot make that determination, or if it cannot be said that the condition would have exited apart from the injury, then you should award damages for the entire condition suffered by claimant.

So this instruction instructs the jury to try to determine”

• What part of the injury existed prior to the accident; and
• What part of the injury was caused by the accident.

If the jury is unable to make that determination, then the jury should award the injured person money damages for his/her entire condition.

Most car accident and personal injury cases are settled during the “claim” stage, and will never result in a lawsuit, much less a jury trial. Nonetheless, even during the claim stage (when it’s you lawyer versus the insurance adjuster), your pre-existing condition will be analyzed in the same way required by this jury instruction.

Florida’s “Eggshell Skull” Rule

The eggshell skull rule maintains that any individual who negligently causes someone else’s injury is not free from liability, simply because the victim has a pre-existing injury that makes him or her more susceptible to a new injury. The rule is that:

• The person who caused the injury takes the victim as he/she finds him or her; and
• The person who caused the injury is still responsible for the full extent of the injuries caused, no matter how fragile the victim already was, when the accident occurred.

It doesn’t matter if the average person would have sustained much less severe injuries in a similar accident. If a driver caused an injury through negligent driving, the driver – and his/her insurance company –must pay for it.

The most important takeaway from this rule is that no accident victim should hesitate to contact a Palm Beach County personal injury lawyer if he/she was injured due to someone else’s negligence, regardless of the state of the victim’s health before the accident.

How Is “Aggravation” or “Exacerbation” of The Injury/Condition Proven and Measured?

“Aggravation” or “exacerbation” of your pre-existing condition, is proven in a number of ways. Those ways will vary a bit, depending upon whether your personal injury case is in the “claim” stage versus the “lawsuit” stage. The bottom line, though, is that, regardless of the stage, your medical history will take center stage, and your medical records will be closely scrutinized.

The Critical Role That Your Prior Medical Records Play In A Case Involving a Pre-Existing Condition

Your medical records are particularly helpful in cases involving pre-existing injuries, because they will provide a clear snapshot of your pre-existing injury or condition, before and after the accident. A skilled Palm Beach County personal injury lawyer can use your medical records to establish the aggravation of your pre-existing injuries.

Of course, the insurance adjuster handling your claim (or defense lawyer opposing your lawsuit) will be looking for ways to pay you as little money as possible. They have the right to request information about your pre-existing conditions, and will often request and receive copies of your medical records and radiographic films (MRI’s, etc.) going back  several years. They will often comb through your medical records searching for evidence to suggest that the accident caused little or no damage to your health. They will try to label as many conditions as possible as pre-existing, in hopes of not having to compensate you for medical expenses and other losses caused by the aggravation.

Your Medical Records Before the Accident/Incident

Your prior medical records will provide details such as:

• Your prior injuries;
• Your baseline condition leading up to the accident;
• The symptoms you experienced;
• The last time you saw a healthcare provider for your pre-existing condition before the accident;
• If you were taking any medication for your condition, leading up to the accident;
• How you were functioning in the days leading up to the accident

Your Medical Records After the Accident/Incident

Your post-accident medical records and radiographic studies will be compared to your prior medical records and radiographic studies, to see if your pre-existing condition has worsened. The insurance company will scrutinize your records to see:

• How soon after the accident you sought medical treatment for your reinjured body part or aggravated condition; and
• What you complained of to the healthcare providers who treated you.

If you waited a long time before seeking treatment after the accident, the insurance company will argue that any aggravation you suffered was caused by something else, rather than the car accident. Adjusters believe that if the accident caused an aggravation of your pre-existing condition, you would have promptly sought treatment for the aggravation. In that way, insurance companies routinely challenge the “causation” element that all successful negligence cases require.  They argue that just because your condition became worse after the accident, does not necessarily mean that the accident was the cause.  That is one of several important reasons not to delay seeking medical care shortly after a Palm Beach County car accident.

Other Methods to Prove Aggravation That Apply If You Are in A Lawsuit

If your case is in the ”lawsuit” stage, then– in addition to your medical records– the following methods will likely be used to address the pre-existing injury issue.  These methods are not utilized for cases in the “claim” stage:

• Your Deposition Testimony
• You will likely have to give a deposition (sworn testimony) where the defense lawyer will question you about your medical history. This is a golden opportunity to present, in your own words, all of your injuries and how they affect your life. You will also have the chance to explain, in detail, how the accident aggravated your injuries. Your Palm Beach County personal injury lawyer should already:
• Have obtained your medical records;
• Know the information the records contain;
• Have reviewed your medical history with you; and
• Properly prepared you for your deposition.

The Law Offices of Andrea McMillan does this for all firm clients.

• Deposition of Your Treating Doctors & Your Other Healthcare Providers
• In a lawsuit, either your lawyer or the lawyer hired by the insurance company may take the depositions of your healthcare providers (before and/or after the accident) in order to establish, on the record:
• Information in those records about your injuries;

• The healthcare providers’ medical opinions about your preexisting and current injuries/conditions; and
• The healthcare providers’ medical opinions about whether the accident aggravated your preexisting condition.

Why It Is Critical For You to Disclose Your Pre-Existing Conditions to Your Florida Personal Injury Lawyer

Disclose! Disclose! Disclose to Your Lawyer!

Some accident victims do not disclose their preexisting injuries to their lawyer, because:

• They forget about preexisting injuries they have sustained; or
• Believe that these injuries have nothing to do with their new injury, and therefore, decide not to disclose those injuries.

When you discuss your case and your medical history with your lawyer, remember that it’s absolutely critical for you not to hold back anything. Forgetting or intentionally failing to disclose your complete and accurate medical history to your lawyer can create huge problems in your personal injury case, and is a big “no-no.”  If you don’t remember the exact details of your prior medical history (at least going back 10 years), then at least tell you lawyer which healthcare providers treated you in that timeframe, so your lawyer can request your medical records from those providers.

Let your lawyer decide how to handle any information that might seem to complicate your claim, rather than keeping such details to yourself. Failing to disclose or forgetting about a pre-existing condition could:

• Damage your credibility;
• Damage your lawyer’s credibility;
• Jeopardize your claim;
• Make your lawyer angry; and
• Expose you to legal sanctions (punishment), if your case is in a lawsuit, and the defense lawyer discovers your omission.

Dishonesty or forgetfulness will only make matters worse for you and better for your opponent, so help your case and disclose to your lawyer!

Schedule a Free Consultation Today

If you suffer from a pre-existing condition, the Law Offices of Andrea McMillan will thoroughly investigate your claim and determine the severity of your new injury, the appropriate treatment, and the timeline on your recovery, so we can properly establish the value of your case.

We know how to build a strong case around the aggravation of a pre-existing condition. You may be eligible to compensation for the medical expenses, property damage, lost wages, pain and suffering and other damages you have sustained. Let us defend your best interests. We do not get paid unless you do. Call us today at (561) 612-5700.