Why You Should Not Hide Your Pre-Existing Medical Condition if You Have Been Injured in a Waldorf, Maryland Car Accident
Having a pre-existing medical condition does not mean that you have no claim if you have been injured in a Waldorf, MD, car accident. In fact, many pre-existing injuries or medical conditions have no impact at all on an accident settlement or jury verdict. For this reason alone, there is no need to hide your pre-existing medical condition. Further, you will not succeed in hiding the condition since it is routine for insurance companies and litigation lawyers to obtain copies of your medical records. Thus, your pre-existing medical condition(s) will become known, and consequently, it will also become known that you lied or otherwise tried to hide your pre-existing medical condition. That will damage your credibility and will definitely “hurt” your case.
If you have been hurt in a Waldorf, Maryland auto accident, contact us here at the Law Office of Robert Castro. Our number is (301) 870-1200. Our consultation is risk-free, and we accept cases on a contingency fee basis. That means you pay nothing unless we win. Here is additional information about how pre-existing medical conditions may impact your settlement.
Generally, pre-existing medical conditions are injuries or conditions that existed before the most recent accident occurred. Often, such conditions have no impact on your settlement. Indeed, most people have some form of a pre-existing medical condition when they are involved in a Charles County, MD, car accident. Maybe you suffer from high cholesterol, hypertension, or any number of other medical conditions.
Generally, these pre-existing medical conditions have little-to-no impact on your Waldorf, Maryland, car or auto accident claim. Why? Because most pre-existing medical conditions do not have any relationship to the injuries that occurred during the Maryland car accident. For example, having high cholesterol has no relationship to a whiplash injury that you might have suffered in a rear-ender car accident. The only time a pre-existing medical condition impacts your personal injury claim is if the pre-existing condition affects the same part of your body or the injured bodily system. Let’s say you had a pre-existing medical issue affecting your back/spine. That is the type of injury that might impact a settlement of a recent auto crash since the crash might have involved back or spinal areas.
However, as noted, that does not mean you have no claim. You have an absolute claim for any re-injury and for any exacerbation of a pre-existing injury. Thus, if you had a back injury that completely healed, you have a claim for compensation for a re-injury. Likewise, if the previous back injury was not completely healed but was made worse by the accident, you have a claim for that exacerbation of the injury.
For these reasons, there is no reason to hide or fail to disclose a pre-existing medical condition. You still have a claim.
The other important reason for being honest about a pre-existing condition is that the condition will become known during the investigation process. A victim’s full medical records are obtained after an accident, and those records will show the pre-existing condition. These records are obtained as a requirement of the insurance company’s investigation.
If it turns out that you tried to hide the pre-existing condition, that will adversely affect your claim. The insurance company may even refuse to offer a settlement. If the matter goes to litigation, your efforts to hide the pre-existing condition will be disclosed to the judge and jury. That may damage your credibility and diminish your award of compensation.
Contact Waldorf, MD Personal Injury Attorney Robert Castro Today
This article has been provided by the Law Office of Robert Castro. For more information or questions, contact our office to speak to an experienced Maryland personal injury lawyer at (301) 870-1200. We are Waldorf, MD, Personal Injury lawyers. Our address is 2670 Crain Highway, Waldorf, MD 20601.
