Why Your Injury Attorney Wants You to Get Treatment After An Injury
Dealing with a personal injury can be a terrifying and unsettling experience. Every aspect of the journey can seem overwhelming, from the initial shock and physical discomfort to the complicated recovery process.
However, it’s not just the immediate challenges an injured person faces after the incident. The legal aspects of a personal injury case can add to their stress and anxiety.
One key piece of advice that your dedicated injury attorney will likely emphasize is the importance of seeking immediate medical care following an injury. While this advice may initially appear to be focused only on your well-being, there’s much more to it than meets the eye.
While it is true that your health and well-being should always be your top priority, understanding the importance of getting medical attention after an accident can help you and your personal injury lawyer out overall. This blog post will explain why personal injury lawyers insist on immediate medical attention post-injury, showing how this crucial step interacts with the personal injury claim or damages ahead.
What Are The Most Common Types of Personal Injury Accidents?
In the United States, each year, there are approximately 39.5 billion personal injury cases that need medical attention. Accidents can manifest in various forms, each causing a wide range of injuries. Here are some of the most common types of personal injury accidents that happen:
1. Car, Motorcycle, or Truck Accidents
Unfortunately, car accidents are a common occurrence, affecting countless drivers and passengers daily. In a car crash, accident victims often suffer from various injuries such as whiplash, concussions, and even more severe impairments like fractures and spinal cord injuries.
Injuries from motor vehicle accidents can significantly impact their lives, causing physical pain, emotional distress, and potentially long-term disabilities.
2. Slip and Fall Accidents
Slip and fall accidents, another prevalent and unfortunate category of accidents, typically occur when injury victims lose their footing or balance and fall to the ground. These falls can lead to various issues that impact a person’s quality of life, such as sprains or strains, broken bones, and traumatic brain injuries in severe cases.
3. On-The-Job Accidents
Workplace accidents, especially in high-risk industries like construction or manufacturing, can result in various serious injuries. Workplace injuries cases can be minor cuts and burns to more severe ones, including those associated with heavy machinery, such as severe concussions or crushed limbs.
Why You Need to Seek Medical Help After An Accident
If you have been an injury victim of one of the accidents discussed above and have reached out to a personal injury lawyer, their first question was likely about whether you received immediate help from a medical facility. While this question can catch you off-guard, it is vital from your injury lawyer’s perspective for a few reasons.
1. Your Health As An Accident Victim Is a Top Priority
First, medical help ensures that evident and latent injuries are promptly diagnosed and treated. This is crucial as it not only contributes to your well-being but can greatly impact the speed of your recovery as well. You can proactively manage your health and take necessary steps to prevent future complications by addressing your injuries right after they occur.
2. Documentation Can Make or Break a Personal Injury Claim
In addition to your overall health and recovery, having a well-documented medical record of your injuries is pivotal in establishing evidence in most personal injury claims. This record shows a clear and indisputable link between the accident and the harm caused, which is essential for your personal injury attorney to effectively establish the at-fault party’s liability.
Compensatory Damages in a Personal Injury Lawsuit
Without this documentation, it could lead to significant challenges in your personal injury lawsuit to recover compensation via compensatory damages, otherwise known as economic damages. Economic damages would include things like fair compensation for your medical bills and medical expenses, lost wages, or any future income that cannot be gained as a result of the accident.
Pain and Suffering or Non-Economic Damages in a Personal Injury Case
Not having documentation of your treatment directly after your accident makes it difficult to regain financial losses and challenging for your legal representation to pursue compensation for pain and suffering damages, which are sometimes called “non-economic damages.”
Pain and suffering damages can include compensation for physical pain, emotional trauma, loss of experience (such as not being able to participate in activities you used to enjoy,) or any other intangible losses you experienced due to the accident.
The documentation in personal injury lawsuits is the missing piece of evidence that strengthens the personal injury case. It provides a clear understanding of the injury claim’s circumstances, allowing your legal team to fight on your behalf for the personal injury damages you deserve.
3. Treatment Gaps Cause Issues With Personal Injury Cases
Suppose you do not seek medical help immediately after being injured in an accident and decide to later on. In that case, the insurance company can scrutinize the time gap between the accident and medical treatment under personal injury law. Any delay in treatment might be construed as an indication that the injury claim was not serious.
This gap in time makes it hard for personal injury attorneys to legitimize your injury claim, making it challenging for a law firm to recover damages for medical costs, general damages, or achieve any other settlement agreement. Getting the medical help you need after an injury never hurts your personal injury claim and can strengthen your legal support in their fight to get you the maximum compensation.
Have the Right Team To Get You The Personal Injury Damages You Deserve With Westmoreland Injury Lawyers
When you need personal injury attorneys in Greensburg, PA, to get the compensation you deserve and hold the person responsible for the gross negligence that caused your accident, turn to Westmoreland Injury Lawyers. Our dedicated legal team is here to assist you in your fight to regain your life. Schedule a legal consultation with us today, and start the journey to receiving what you are rightfully owed after your injury.
