Legal Question in Personal Injury in California
Hello,
I want to thank you in advance for your expertise. I was recently rear-ended and was injured. My doctor stated that these new injuries (concussion, whiplash, etc.) have aggravated some chronic injuries. I've heard that in California, these "aggravated" injuries are supposed to be covered (reimbursement for treatment/medical bills) by the auto insurance compan(ies) as well. Is this true? My "old" injuries are much more problematic now than they we're before the accident.
Any help or advice you can give me would be gratefully appreciated.
Truly yours,
Injured
3 Answers from Attorneys
Hello.
It sounds like you sustained serious injuries and should obtain comprehensive medical treatment and legal representation to make sure that you obtain fair settlement and don't make common mistakes that other injured persons do that hurt their ability to recover fair compensation.
Thanks, and feel free to follow up.
Arkady Itkin
San Francisco / Sacramento Injury Lawyer
You have been correctly informed. The person causing the new trauma is legally responsible for the degree of worsening of your old problem, both in terms of amount of medical care needed (such as doctor's visits now 3X what they were before, and/or increased amount of disability or loss of motion, etc.
It is something that the insurance company will want to squabble over, but it is usually not that difficult to spot the differences in the injuries. Even for instance if both old and new injuries were to the neck, the old pains might be on the left and new on the right. With proper workup, your new injuries can be properly substantiated.
You can read some of my articles on how personal injury cases go at my website if you wish. I have offices in San Francisco and Marin. If you wish you can give a call and receive a free consultation with no obligation. Here is the URL for the website:
http://negligentdeath.com/
Just bear in mind that the statute of limitations against private parties is two years, but if any governmental entity is involved, there are much shorter deadlines, and of course evidence can disappear with delay. Good luck, and be sure and keep at the medical care for your injuries and try to explain to the doctor how these problems are different from what you had before.
The above answers are correct. It is complicated and you must apportion as to what was caused by the new accident and what was pre-existing. The doctors assist us in doing this. Consult a competent personal injury attorney in your area.
Please visit our website for more information www.lawkuhn.com.