Not every victim of negligence comes into an incident with a clean slate. Many people have some type of injury, either minor or serious, that existed before the incident. Whether this injury includes back pain, knee pain, or a shoulder injury, these pre-existing injuries do not have to derail your personal injury claim.
New Injuries
If you’ve developed new injuries in addition to your pre-existing injury, then you will still be able to receive compensation for any new injuries caused by negligence. Your medical records and testimony of a medical expert can be used to establish which injuries you had prior to the incident and which injuries were a direct result of the accident in question.
Aggravation of Injuries
While you are not entitled to payment for injuries that existed before an accident, you are entitled to compensation for the degree to which these pre-existing injuries were aggravated or exacerbated by the accident. Aggravation of a pre-existing injury means that your injury was made worse as the result of the accident in question.
In the case of aggravation of a pre-existing injury, you may be compensated for the degree of exacerbation. Your recovery will be for how the accident worsened your condition. You may not be compensated for treatment you were already undergoing as the result of your pre-existing injury, but only for additional care that was required. Proving the aggravation of an existing injury requires a thorough and extensive review of medical records and current medical examinations to compare the individual’s condition before and after the accident.
A defendant can’t avoid liability simply because a plaintiff was more prone to injury due to a pre-existing condition. A negligent party will still be liable even if the plaintiff was more susceptible, due to a health condition, to being seriously injured.
Contact an Experienced Attorney
If you have a pre-existing injury that was aggravated by someone’s negligence, you should have an experienced personal injury attorney evaluate your case. At Bonina & Bonina, P.C., we have over 50 years of experience helping injured New Yorkers. Contact us online or call us at 1-888-MEDLAW1 to schedule your free consultation. Home and hospital visits are available. Se habla español.