Certain injuries require very specific treatment, like epidural steroid injections (ESIs). If you have to get these injections following an accident, how might that impact your compensation claim?
Epidural steroid injections are common treatments used for those dealing with chronic pain following a back, neck, or spine injury. These injections might be given regularly to provide temporary pain relief for injury victims. The fact that you require such routine treatment for pain management could indicate to a jury that your injuries are severe. If you are advised to get epidural steroid injections following an injury and refuse, you could inadvertently undermine your claim. After proving the defendant’s fault for your injuries, you can get compensation for any ESIs you have received or will need to receive, as well as compensation for other economic or non-economic damages caused by the defendant’s negligence.
By calling Rice, Murtha & Psoras now at (410) 694-7291, you can set up a free assessment of your case from our Maryland personal injury lawyers.
How Might Epidural Steroid Injections Affect Your Injury Claim?
Epidural steroid injections are typically given to those dealing with serious pain from back, neck, or spine injuries. If you have received an epidural steroid injection following an accident that caused you injury, that might impact your compensation case.
Juries and insurance companies alike are often swayed by medical evidence. If you received an ESI during the course of your treatment for accident injuries, the fact that you got such an injection could be indicative of the fact that you had severe pain or inflammation, likely due to the injury caused by the defendant. If you received regular ESIs in the months following an accident, that could indicate even more serious pain or injuries.
Specialists often give epidural steroid injections to patients dealing with inflammation of the spinal nerves or other similar injuries. It would not otherwise be administered. This means that a defendant could not argue that you got epidural steroid injections for any other reason, unless you happen to have a pre-existing condition that would call for ESIs.
Suppose the doctors and specialists treating you advised you to get an ESI, and you refused. In that case, that refusal might be of question in your injury case, especially if you are seeking recovery for pain and suffering, which an ESI might have helped ease. That example serves as a reminder of the fact that injury victims should always accept care offered by medical professionals, as refusing treatment might harm their ability to recover damages.
When Are Epidural Steroid Injections Needed to Treat Accident Injuries?
Epidural steroid injections are only advised by doctors when victims have certain injuries. While an ESI might not be necessary if a victim does not have a back injury, other treatments might be.
Epidural steroid injections are used to help those dealing with serious pain from spinal nerve damage manage their discomfort. The effects of these injections may last several months or longer, depending on the specific patient’s pain levels. So, depending on the severity of your injuries and your body’s response to ESIs, you might need to get injections several times a year to maintain a reasonable quality of life and low pain levels.
That said, if you sustained neck or back injuries following an accident and you have not had to get an ESI for pain management, that does not mean your injuries are insignificant or do not warrant compensatory damages. It could just mean that the doctors treating you believed you required different care based on your unique injuries.
Depending on the likelihood of your physical recovery, you might also need one or two epidural steroid injections done before your pain decreases significantly. While some juries might see multiple ESIs as a sign of a serious injury, not having to get an ESI will not lower your chances of recovery, especially if you did not sustain a back, neck, or spine injury of any kind. For example, if you broke your wrist, you might not need to get an ESI. That does not mean, however, that your broken wrist is undeserving of compensation; it just means that your broken wrist requires different treatment.
How Are Epidural Steroid Injections Compensated in Injury Claims?
Any and all necessary medical expenses should be compensated in your injury claim. This pertains to costs related to your pain management as well, including epidural steroid injections.
While epidural steroid injections do not help the body’s physical recovery following an accident, they do help with pain, like prescription medication might. After they are administered, ESIs can provide short to long-term pain relief, which some accident victims might need for long periods of time following accidents. When these costs are part of a victim’s medical expenses for accident injuries, they can be compensated in a lawsuit. Our Baltimore personal injury lawyers can ensure that all future ESIs are covered by enlisting medical experts to testify regarding the long-term medical treatment you may need.
If you have to get epidural steroid injections because you have chronic pain caused by an accident, that might affect your emotional well-being. Having to get routine medical procedures done can be mentally draining. Furthermore, if you have consistent and severe pain, that might impact your ability to engage in activities you once enjoyed, reducing your overall quality of life. Such emotional damages can be compensated in an injury claim, provided victims can prove they exist. Our attorneys can help you document your pain and suffering by advising you to keep a journal or confide in a mental health professional. Statements from the therapist who has treated you for your emotional difficulties can aid in your recovery of non-economic damages.
Call Our Attorneys About Your Injury Case Now
Call the team at Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291 to discuss your case for free with our Ocean City, MD personal injury lawyers.