Why doing "what the doctor ordered" matters in personal injury cases.

Why doing "what the doctor ordered" matters in personal injury cases.

Here's the takeaway: if your doctor recommends treatment and you choose not to follow those recommendations, you should expect the insurance company and its lawyers to use those decisions to attempt reduce the value of your claim.

One of the biggest surprises for many people after an accident is discovering that their medical treatment is no longer a private matter between them and their healthcare providers.

If you decide to pursue a personal injury claim, the decisions you make about your medical care become part of the evidence. Insurance companies, defense attorneys, and juries or judges, when appropriate, will examine those decisions closely. They will look not only at what injuries you suffered, but also at how you responded to those injuries.

Is that fair? I don't know. But if you are pursuing a personal injury claim it IS your reality.

There are situations where two people suffer remarkably similar injuries in remarkably similar accidents, yet receive dramatically different settlement offers. Often, one of the biggest differences isn’t the injury itself. It’s the medical record that follows.

The Medical Record Tells a Story

Every medical appointment, every recommendation from a provider, every missed follow-up visit, and every gap in treatment becomes part of the story your records tell.

Imagine two people who each suffer the same neck injury in similar rear-end collisions.

Both visit the emergency room. Both are diagnosed with a cervical strain. Both are referred for physical therapy.

The first person attends therapy regularly, follows the therapist’s recommendations, returns for scheduled follow-up visits, and completes the course of treatment recommended by the medical providers.

The second person attends a few appointments, misses one or two others others, stops therapy after a couple of weeks without discussing it with the provider, and returns to therapy two months later because the pain has worsened.

Those two people may have started with nearly identical injuries.

By the time their claims are evaluated, however, they may no longer look similar at all.

What the Defense Will Argue

Defense lawyers are hired to challenge claims. That is their job.

If your medical records show missed appointments, unexplained gaps in treatment, or recommendations that were never followed, those facts will almost certainly become part of their argument.

They may suggest that:

● The injury wasn’t as painful as you now claim.

● You recovered sooner than you say you did.

● Something unrelated happened during the gap in treatment.

● You failed to do what was reasonably necessary to get better.

● Your current complaints are exaggerated.

Whether those arguments are ultimately persuasive is a different question.

The important point is that they become available because of the treatment history reflected in your records.

Credibility Is Often the Real Issue

Most personal injury cases are not won or lost because of a single MRI, X-ray, or doctor’s note.

They are won or lost because people decide which version of events they find more believable.

Your credibility matters.

Consistent treatment tends to support the idea that your complaints were genuine and ongoing.

Long, unexplained gaps in treatment can create questions that may never have existed had the treatment history been more consistent.

That doesn’t mean every missed appointment is fatal. Life happens. People get sick. Children need care. Jobs become demanding. Transportation can be difficult.

The problem arises when gaps happen but you aren't able to provide a satisfactory explanation for why they happened in your case and there is no explanation for the gap in the medical record.

This Doesn’t Mean You Should Accept Every Recommendation

This is an important point.

I am not suggesting that you should undergo every test, procedure, or treatment simply because you have a personal injury claim.

Medical decisions should always be made based on your own health, your own circumstances, and the advice of medical professionals you trust.

If you decide not to pursue a recommended treatment, that may be the right decision for you.

Just recognize that if you later pursue compensation for your injuries, someone on the other side is likely to ask why.

Have an answer. Be prepared for that question. Discuss the circumstances with your personal injury attorney before you are asked.

Communication Matters

Sometimes people stop treatment because they feel better.

Sometimes they stop because it isn’t helping.

Sometimes they can’t afford the copays.

Sometimes work or family responsibilities make appointments nearly impossible.

Those are very different situations.

Whenever possible, discuss those issues with your healthcare provider instead of simply disappearing from treatment.

And then share that information with your personal injury attorney

Medical records that explain why treatment changed are far more helpful than records that simply show a patient never returned.

One Final Thought

One of the themes you’ll see throughout Paul’s Guide is that informed decisions are better decisions.

You also shouldn’t assume that treatment decisions exist in a vacuum once you decide to pursue a personal injury claim.

The medical choices you make today may become part of the evidence tomorrow.

Understanding that reality doesn’t tell you what decisions to make.

It simply allows you to make them better.

General information—not legal advice. Paul’s Guide is not a law firm. This article provides general educational information and may not address every fact, exception, jurisdiction, or change in the law. Legal rights and deadlines vary based on the circumstances and applicable law. Reading this article, by itself, does not create an attorney-client relationship with Paul’s Guide or Paul Zimmerman. For advice about a specific claim, promptly consult a lawyer licensed in the appropriate jurisdiction.