Insurance companies like to make life hare for an accident victim that has a residual injury. Yet, possession of a chronic medical problem can become an advantage, if you have been involved in an accident.
Examples of residual injuries
• Scarring
• Joint stiffness
• A ventricular shunt
• A metal plate in the skull
Any residual injury should be documented
Mention should be made in a patient’s medical report of any cosmetic change. That alteration to a part of the body counts as damage. The visibility of a scar works to determine the extent of the damage. That is especially true, when the scarred individual has earned a living by displaying a healthy and beautiful body.
Some scars put a limit on the flexibility of the scarred region. That should be noted, because it underlines the serious level of the damaging changes. A joint injury can also limit the victim’s mobility. Scars on women are worth more than scars on men. Scars on a younger person are worth more than those on an older person.
How should a personal injury lawyer in Grande Prairie estimate the cost of a residual injury? What would it cost the lawyer’s client to have it removed? Can it be removed? Scars can be removed, but sometimes a victim needs to live forever with the effects of an injury.
A medical report should also include details on the treatment used to correct the injured region. This fact gets mentioned twice in this article. The reason for that dual mention is made clear in the following section.
What facts should be included in the documented information?
Indicate whether or not the injury is permanent. What about the treatment; will that have a permanent effect upon the treated victim? A good lawyer learns as much as possible about the client’s treatment.
For instance, the performance of a ventricular shunt becomes diminished, if the person that carries that same implanted device does lots of bending, or lots of stair climbing. In other words, someone that carries such a device should think twice before taking just any job.
Could the injury cause a degenerative problem? Could the treatment cause a degenerative problem? Someone that has gone for years with a plate in his or her skull could feel compelled to ask for an early retirement.
If a ventricular shunt were to become infected, the affected patient could receive antibiotics by means of a tube and an IV needle. That would kill the infection, but it would also allow for development of a degenerative problem. The antibiotics have an effect on the sense of hearing. That particular sense tends to go downhill rapidly in the body of someone that has received, previously, the IV-administered, germ-fighting medication.