How Do Pre-Existing Conditions Affect Personal Injury Claims in Iowa

Can I File a Personal Injury Lawsuit If I Have a Pre-existing Condition?

If you currently have a chronic condition or previous injury that causes you pain, a car accident or other injury could certainly exacerbate your injury. Let’s say you have a car accident due to another’s negligence; this new injury can significantly increase your pain, and your healing period can be lengthened or delayed for months or years.

Of course, you can still file a personal injury lawsuit if you have a pre-existing injury. Still, the case your thorough and aggressive personal injury lawyer drafts will likely differ slightly. Your doctor must examine you, and it must be determined how the new injury made your pre-existing injury worse and if the damage caused will affect you long-term, make you miss work, or possibly change your life entirely.

Essentially, having a pre-existing injury when your new accident occurred will not stop your passionate and dedicated personal injury law team from filing your case, but it will complicate things.

However, being complicated doesn’t mean that your case is impossible to win; the opposite is true if you have an experienced, knowledgeable, and passionately aggressive personal injury lawyer on your side.

What Does Aggravation Of a Pre-existing Condition Mean?

If you have a pre-existing condition and then have a new injury, your previous condition could easily be made worse. This exacerbation of your pre-existing injury could be temporary but also may increase your previous injury immensely; this could cause you to be unable to work, support your family, or affect your quality of life. So, aggravation of a pre-existing condition commonly occurs when your 1st injury is made worse permanently by the new injury.

Therefore, you may still be entitled to significant compensation if your injury worsens. But here’s the tricky legal question: how do you prove that your previous condition was made worse by your recent accident, and how does this new injury entitle you to compensation?
Your skilled, caring, and knowledgeable personal injury lawyer understands the insurance company will always attempt to attribute some (or all) of your pre-existing condition; these companies will pay willingly or without a fight.

The insurance companies will always try to offer you a lower settlement if your case is not handled by a professional who fights passionately for your rights.

Your well-versed lawyer is aware that precisely assessing the impact of your new injury on your pre-existing condition requires a thorough understanding of both your medical history and the unique specifics of your accident. This usually involves the use of meticulous, renowned, and highly skilled medical professionals who can accurately evaluate and prove that the recent accident significantly worsened your pre-existing condition.

What Are Some Strategies My Lawyer May Use To Prove My Injuries Were Made Worse?

As stated previously, although it is possible to file a personal injury case with a pre-existing condition, your case must be approached differently than others.

There are things that you and your lawyer can do to increase your chances of success with your claim and get you the settlement you need and deserve. Just a few of these strategies are;

• Be open and provide an in-depth medical history – You must explain your pre-existing conditions clearly and immediately. Never withhold any information, as this could damage your credibility and case.
• Obtain skilled, experienced legal representation – Your personal injury lawyer must have the extensive experience required to deal with cases that involve pre-existing conditions. This expertise will prove invaluable in overcoming the complexity inherent in these types of cases so that you end up with the best possible outcome.
• Ensure you gather all current and past comprehensive medical evidence – Work closely with your medical team to obtain detailed records, all test results, and expert testimony, if needed. This information will be presented professionally to show how your recent accident worsened your condition.
• Have patience but persistence – These pre-existing conditions cases can be lengthy, complex, and stressful. However, patience and persistence are needed to navigate this process and negotiate successfully with insurance companies.  

What Is the “Eggshell Skull Rule” and Can It Help My Pre-existing Condition Lawsuit?

Personal injury law sometimes refers to the “eggshell skull rule” (or the “eggshell plaintiff”) when dealing with an injury case that involves pre-existing conditions.

Let’s say you never had a back problem and got into a car accident. Your back may sustain a minor injury, or you may not be hurt. You may feel stiff for a few days, but in the end, you are fine.

Now, let’s surmise that you already have a back issue that you’ve treated for a while and are doing better, but your back is weakened. You have had the same car accident, and now it’s hard to walk. All the progress you’ve made with your previous treatment is lost, and you’re worse off than you were before. The same type of accident happened to both people, but the man with the previously damaged back is, by far, injured more severely.

The law maintains that exceptional circumstances exist in these cases, and the “eggshell plaintiff” with a pre-existing injury may be injured more severely due to their pre-existing condition.

Of course, this all depends on the severity of your accident. At times, the forces involved in the incident may have injured anyone, regardless of their current health. However, while a “normal” healthy person might have walked away, the “eggshell plaintiff” deserves more consideration, and medical professionals and their highly trained personal injury lawyers should work tirelessly to determine how much of their injury can be attributed to their recent accident.

I Must File a Personal Injury Case, But Have a Pre-existing Condition; How Should I Proceed?

Litigating personal injury lawsuits and their settlements involving pre-existing conditions are always legally complex and challenging. The personal injury law team who fights for you must have the passion and conviction to sift through all the medical evidence, present it clearly and professionally, and have a deep and thorough knowledge of these types of cases.  

The empathetic, passionate, and persistent personal injury lawyers at Cornell Injury Law precisely fit this mold. They are prepared to work tirelessly and put in the time and genuine effort to get the compensation and outcome you need and rightfully deserve.

Call them today for a free consultation on your case at 319-946-4019. While you focus on your health and family, they will work diligently to obtain the compensation you need to move on with your life.