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In a Boca Raton car accident case, the defendant is liable for the injuries causally related to the accident that occurred. If an individual was hurt in the accident, the longer they wait to seek medical attention the more arguments the defendant will have saying that they really could not have been hurt or there is something else because the person did not get treatment for a month.
As any Boca Raton car accident lawyer will tell you, seeking immediate medical attention is very helpful because it establishes a baseline shortly after the accident. Then appropriate follow-up care can be scheduled, but without documenting the physical trauma that the person sustained as quickly as possible after the car accident can lead to problems later on because the defense is going to argue that they are not really hurt if they waited or refused treatment. Refusing medical treatment can be a detrimental mistake in a car accident case, and it is important for an individual to take care of themselves following their accident.
Seeking Medical Attention
When an individual is involved in a traumatic event, a person’s body goes into shock and that shock means a person is traumatized, but in defense of the body, the body releases certain chemicals, endorphins and adrenaline, to keep them going until the immediate trauma has passed. That is why there are amazing occurrences that happen after an accident where people are able to move cars or do things that would otherwise seem inhuman, it is because all these chemicals are coursing through the person’s veins.
These chemicals released by the body take a day or two to wear off so sometimes people are not seeking immediate medical attention, because they do not feel that bad, but as the hours and days go by, typically 24 to 48 hours, the pain and discomfort symptoms will manifest themselves more and more, which will drive the client to seek medical attention.
It is a mistake for a person to refuse medical attention at the scene of a car accident, so they should get checked out, if they are not debilitated. If they do not go to the hospital right away, then in a day or two they should be seeking out appropriate medical attention and be checked out.
Importance of Following Up With Treatment
Insurance companies are always skeptical at claims and whenever there is a lapse in treatment the argument can come up—either the person went for treatment right after the accident, they are treated for week and they stopped and two months went by and the person went back to the doctor claiming that the symptoms were from the accident, but they do not know what happened in those two months. So consistent treatment on a regular basis, a weekly basis, is important so the doctor can establish and maintain the cause or relation of the treatment of the injuries a person has back to the car accident.
When there is a gap in treatment, they run into the issue of alternative theories as to why the person is experiencing pain in those areas. That is a mistake that a person would want to avoid after a Boca Raton car accident. A person would want a consistent medical record denoting the progress, denoting the complaints, and denoting the examinations that occur. So the baseline was established and it is monitored to the end of the treatment.
Not Following Up
Any time that a patient does not follow up with the doctor’s orders, it can lead one to believe that they were not hurt that much and then when they go back something else must have happened. It is important to continue to maintain that stream of treatment and as a result, whenever there is a lapse in treatment, it affects evaluation. It gives the insurance company more ammunition to fight the claim.
When a person works with a car accident attorney in Boca Raton, their lawyer can educate them as to how the bills will be paid, how much coverage is available, and what is necessary to be able to recover for that pain and suffering and other damages at the end of their treatment. If they do not work with an attorney and get the appropriate follow up with treatment, they may not have a good understanding of their monetary situation and of what is available for recovery.
