Medical treatment in a personal injury caseAs indicated in the word Personal Injury, a personal injury necessitates an actual injury. As we all know some injuries can be as small as a bruise, or a minor cut, or even emotional distress. However, some injuries can be catastrophic. Most injuries fall in between minor and catastrophic in the personal injury context.

Often times many people who suffer a personal injury due to the negligence of the 3rd party, decide that they will wait to see if they get better on their own. Sometimes, due to medical insurance concerns, or money, persons who sustained an injury due to the negligence of the third-party, do not go to the doctor at all.

In the situation where your injury was caused by the negligence of the third-party, you are entitled to compensation in the state of California. Generally speaking, the nature and extent of your injuries, and your medical bills, are directly proportional to how much money you will most likely get in your California personal injury case.

For people who decide to “wait it out,” or not get medical treatment because of financial or insurance concerns, they are actually sabotaging their California personal injury case. You see insurance companies, and defense attorneys, and California juries, will use the fact that you failed to get medical treatment against you.

It is generally assumed by most reasonable people, that a person who is injured, will seek out medical treatment. Even if you do not have medical insurance, in California, emergency rooms must provide treatment to stabilize you. Legally speaking, the failure to treat is used against you in your California personal injury case.

Furthermore, there is a general legal principle that all people who are injured in a personal injury case, have a duty to mitigate damages. What this means is, let’s say in the worst possible scenario, if you have a broken arm, and you decide not to get medical treatment to treat the broken arm, the defendant, or the person who was responsible for your injuries, is not responsible, from the time you failed to mitigate damages.

Now in the example above, the defendant is still responsible for your injury, but their liability is cut off at the point you decide to not treat. They are not held responsible for all the suffering you go through, or any loss of wages or out-of-pocket expenses, at the point you unreasonably refused to treat.

Therefore, if you’re injured in California due to the negligence of the third-party, you should immediately seek medical treatment as soon as you can. If paramedics arrive at the scene of an accident whether it be a car accident, motorcycle accident, or other motor vehicle accident, let them transport you to the trauma center or emergency room, to ensure that you have no major injuries.

Having a competent California personal injury attorney is the key to getting a good recovery in a California personal injury case. I have been a California personal injury lawyer for almost 22 years now as of the time of the writing of this article.

My law firm will assist you every step of the way in maximizing your California personal injury case. We can get you medical treatment even if you do not have medical insurance. Do not be that person who after being injured due to the negligence of the third-party, decides, to wait it out to see if they will get better, or does not treat because they are afraid of the cost, or the co-pay.

Call us 7 days a week 24 hours a day for free consultation at 800-816-1529, extension 1.

By California personal injury lawyer, Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., May 1, 2019