After sustaining an injury due to another party’s negligence, accept medical care offered to you. If you don’t, you might have trouble recovering compensation for your injuries in Maryland.
Refusing medical care might hurt your injury case in more ways than one. For example, if you refuse care at the scene or do not go to the emergency room following the accident, you will not have documentation of your immediate injuries. Even if you do go to the hospital right after the accident, refusing to continue getting the necessary treatment could negatively impact your financial recovery. When you get the proper medical care, our lawyers can use your records to build proof of injury. We can also submit bills from treatment as proof of your economic damages. Furthermore, when faced with the full knowledge of the medical care you have had to receive because of the defendant’s negligence, the jury in your case might increase your award for non-economic damages.
To schedule a free and confidential assessment of your case from our Maryland personal injury lawyers, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras today at (410) 694-7291.
Can Refusing Immediate Medical Care Hurt Your Injury Case in Maryland?
When accidents happen, causing injury to victims in Maryland, it is of the utmost importance that those victims accept any immediate medical care offered to them. Otherwise, they might unintentionally harm their future claims.
For example, if you were hurt in an auto accident, the police will likely report to the scene along with paramedics. If you are offered transportation to the hospital and immediate treatment from emergency medical professionals, accept it. Do not worry about your vehicle or anything other than getting treatment for injuries. You should do this, even if you appear uninjured following an accident.
You can call 911 and get immediate medical care after any accident that causes you injury in Maryland. Alternatively, you can take yourself to the hospital if your injuries permit or have a family or friend do so. The most important thing will be documenting your physical injuries immediately after you sustain them so you can generate a medical record for your case.
Once you get to the hospital, medical professionals might want to run certain tests or perform emergency surgery, depending on your injuries. Accepting such care will be necessary.
Can Refusing Long-Term Medical Care Hurt Your Injury Case in Maryland?
On top of accepting immediate medical care, you must also accept long-term medical care following an accident in Maryland. This will require you to follow any and all requirements of your treatment plan set by your care team.
Crushing injuries, fractures, spinal cord injuries, and other injuries might require various forms of treatment, including life-long physical therapy. Victims might need to get additional surgeries down the line or receive specialized care for certain injuries, like traumatic brain injuries. That is to say, many of the injuries caused by negligence in Maryland require long-term and continuous treatment. It is not enough to go to the emergency room after an accident; you must continue to get the necessary medical care from doctors and specialists until you recover from your physical injuries.
Having any gaps in your medical treatment whatsoever might seriously disrupt your case. For example, if you were advised to see certain specialists to treat your injury but failed to do so in a timely manner following you receiving that advice, it might seem as though you do not care about your financial or physical recovery. Do not stop getting treatment because you are frustrated with your healing progress, as doing so could harm your case in Maryland.
Using Evidence of Your Medical Care in Your Maryland Injury Claim
Getting medical care following an injury can show your commitment to your physical recovery and the simple fact that your injuries exist. Our lawyers can organize and use your medical records as evidence in your compensation claim in Maryland. Such information can act as proof not only of injury but also of your damages.
Proof of Injury
In personal injury lawsuits, victims have to prove that they sustained injuries because of a defendant’s negligence. This requires proof of injury, which exists in a victim’s medical records. For example, the hospital records from right after the accident can help prove your injuries were caused by the accident in question. As you get continuous care for your injuries, your medical records can reflect your diagnosis, treatment, and progression, solidifying the fact that not only were you injured because of the defendant but that those injuries have caused you damages.
Proof of Damages
When you accept medical care for injuries caused by another person’s negligence, you build proof of your economic damages. As you get bills or charges related to medical treatment, inform our Baltimore personal injury lawyers of these costs so that we can add them to your total financial losses. We can organize your medical bills as you incur them to submit as proof of damages in your case.
By showing a jury the extent of medical care you have received because of the defendant’s negligence, you might be more likely to recover compensation for pain and suffering. For example, after seeing the number of surgeries, tests, or treatments you have endured after the accident, the jury may more easily sympathize with your experience and award you more substantial non-economic damages. Currently, personal injury plaintiffs can recover up to $935,000 in non-economic damages in Maryland. This is the most you can recover, not the guaranteed amount you will be awarded. To strengthen a claim for non-economic damages, our lawyers will submit additional evidence of your pain and suffering on top of your medical records.
Call Our Maryland Attorneys to Discuss Your Injury Claim Now
You can call Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291 to get a free case analysis from our Ocean City, MD personal injury lawyers.