Information: Medical Treatment related to your California Personal Injury Case

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How your medical treatment affects your case

The nature and extent of your injuries, the type of medical treatment you get, and the amount of your medical bills, is directly proportional to how much money you can expect to get in your California Personal Injury case.

The type and amount of medical treatment you receive is an indication of the seriousness of your injuries.

The client, who receives $1,500.00 worth of medical treatment in a few visits to the doctor, will not, as a general rule, receive the same settlement as a client with $5,000.00 in medical treatment spread over many visits to the doctor.

Most insurance companies grade the seriousness of injuries as minimal, slight, moderate or severe. A minimal injury is one in which the client has $1,000.00 or less in medical treatment to cure the injury. A slightly injured client has over $1,000.00 to $3,000.00 in medical treatment. A client with medical treatment expenses over $3,000.00 to $5,000.00 is moderately injured. Medical expenses in excess of $5,000.00 shows severe injury.

Use the following rules as a guide to your medical treatment.

Follow your Doctor’s Advice

You should accept the type and amount of medical treatment the doctor recommends. Some types of treatment may appear not to help at first. Often the doctor may change the type of treatment for better results. Any question as to whether you should continue medical treatment should be directed to the doctor.

Do not Understate Your Complaints

Each time you see your doctor tell the doctor: 1. The location of your pain; 2. The amount of pain (slight, moderate or severe); 3. What you cannot do (disability); and, 4. What you do to relieve the pain.
Do not tell the doctor you “feel fine” if you have pain. The doctor cannot help you if you do not tell the doctor your complaints. Do not expect the insurance company to pay for your pain if you say you “feel fine.”

Do something about your Pain

The insurance company has a very simple rule. The rule is “If it is important enough for you to see a doctor for your complaint, is important enough for you to be compensated for the complaint.” In other words, the failure to treat with a medical doctor (according to the insurance companies) means that you must not be that hurt! If you are in pain you must appear to be trying to get well (mitigating damages). That means going to the doctor for help. If the doctor releases you from therapy and you are still in pain return to the doctor, or let us know.
You know how you feel better than anyone else. Return to the doctor as soon as possible if

you are still having pain. If you wait a year to return back to the doctor, it will appear to the insurance companies that you “must have a new injury,” or you are trying to embellish your injuries. Use your common sense, if you are hurting from your injuries, see your doctor!

Do not miss Doctor’s appointments

It is very important for you to go to all of your doctors’ appointments. There is a reason you have doctor’s appointments scheduled and that is so you get better faster. If you miss therapy appointments for your injury, it will take you longer to heal and it does not look good on the record. We know that some clients miss doctor’s appointments because they are in too much pain to go. Well guess what, you need to tell the doctor so you can recover better.

A large gap in medical treatment always looks bad in a personal injury case. The insurance looks at it like if you were really injured, why did you miss a doctor’s appointment. Make sure you go to all of your doctors appointments.

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