After a car accident, victims should seek medical treatment immediately. They should get proper a diagnosis of their injuries from a doctor, so a treatment plan can be developed to reach maximum medical improvement. The victim must stick to the treatment plan; otherwise, they can ruin their injury claim. A houston car accident attorney can discuss their claim to ensure they don’t do something that can compromise it. Injured victims must keep up with their treatment to avoid undesirable consequences such as the following:
Damaged Credibility
A treatment plan that a doctor will create sets a timeline for when the victim can reach maximum medical improvement or MMI. MMI is when the victim may not improve and need further treatment. Or it may the point when they have reached full healing. For instance, if the victim sustained a spinal cord injury, they may only regain a particular percentage of movement after getting extensive physical therapy.
Cany cancelation or postponement of an appointment with a doctor will be recorded in the patient’s medical records. Should the insurance provider know this, it may argue that the patient is prolonging their recovery period to increase their medical treatment cost. This means that they may assert the victim is trying to get more money from the company. As a result, the company may emphasize that the accident victim is not serious about their recovery and thus they did not suffer a serious injury. Once the company starts to attack the victims’ credibility, getting a jury trying to resolve the dispute can be hard.
Can You Miss an Appointment If You Have a Valid Reason?
It is important for victims to stick to their treatment plan. However, they should also go to work or attend to important family matters. Because of this, conflicts between their schedule and their appointment may arise. If this happens, they can reschedule their appointment; however, they must ensure they will go to the rescheduled appointment. Also, they must inform their lawyer about it.
What to Do if the Injuries Did Not Heal as Quickly as Expected
Often, a car accident lawyer will wait until a victim feels better to start negotiating a settlement with the insurer. This allows them to know better the full extent of their damages. But, if injuries end up being more serious and require extensive treatment, they could delay the case resolution. In this case, the attorney will wait until their client’s injury has stabilized and may not improve before they start with the negotiation process.