Why Are Medical Records Important?.

Medical records — as well as medical bills — are very important to your insurance claim because they are evidence of your injuries. Good evidence is an essential element to proving your insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit. The most relevant medical records for personal injury include:

Description of your injuries
Your doctor’s recommended treatment
Any pain you experienced during treatment
Recovery time
Future medical treatment
Your estimated medical bills.

Some Medical Records Are More Important Than Others

Believe it or not, your personal medical history could also play a role in the outcome of your case. If your injuries occurred in a car accident, don’t forget to mention any earlier car accidents or injuries with your doctor. If any pre-existing injuries were made worse in this auto accident, your insurance may be claim worth even more money. Consult with an experienced personal injury attorney to find out if your case qualifies.

Emergency room records and your doctor’s notes are two of your most important medical records, but so is the information you filled out in writing or told a health care provider after your injury. If you were seriously injured, you may not be in the best mental condition to properly fill out all your information right then and there. What if someone else, such as a busy emergency room worker, filled out your information and made a mistake? What if you, while under heavy pain medication, were not thinking clearly when filling out this information?

These medical records are given more consideration since they were obtained right after your injury. Insurance companies often argue they are the undisputed truth. The bottom line: our personal injury attorneys will not let any mistakes made with this documentation adversely affect your case.

Your Insurance Company Also Knows Your Medical Records

Your insurance company will review all of your medical records to determine whether or not you have told the truth. So keep this in mind when discussing their injuries and/or filling out documents for doctors or others. If you are not truthful with your doctors or exaggerate your injuries, your insurance company will use it against you during the settlement process.

Our Personal Injury Attorneys Can Help You With Medical Bills

Since 1992, our San Diego law firm has been helping people pay back their medical bills after an injury, and we can do it for you too. A lot of doctors have poor handwriting and use confusing terms, but our personal injury attorneys will make sure that all of your injuries and conditions are known.

Our firm’s founder, Michael Pines, is a former insurance company lawyer, so he knows how they will take every advantage they can against you and your case. Let our attorneys handle the insurance companies so that you could recover what you’ve lost.

If you or a loved one would like to seek legal action for injuries in a car accident, contact our bilingual offices as soon as possible at 1-800-655-6585 for a FREE consultation with an experienced San Diego personal injury attorney or click here to submit your case for a FREE online review. We handle all cases on a contingency fee basis, which means that you owe nothing until we recover money on your behalf.

Most Recent Blog Post

[caption id="attachment_21715" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Photo Credit: The San Diego Union Tribune"][/caption] Last week, we reported on a car accident in San Diego that resulted out of alleged teen street racing. In new developments, the 18-year-old driver charged with the death of the two teenagers involved in the street racing has pleaded not guilty to vehicular manslaughter among four other charges according to reports at the San Diego Union Tribune. The news follows the earlier arrest of another 16-year-old driver that was taken into custody on similar charges. Just shortly after his arraignment, Michael Johnson, the 18-year-old driver of a Volvo S40, said, according to his attorney, that he is not the responsible party in the tragic San Diego accident fatalities that occurred April 4. Accident reports indicate that Johnson was returning from a spring break beach party in La Jolla when he was allegedly involved in a street racing contest with another teen driver – the unidentified 16-year-old driver of a Volkswagen Passat whose name has not been released since he is a minor. According to Deputy District Attorney Kristen Spieler, the two vehicles were zigzagging across lanes at speeds reaching up to a staggering 100 m.p.h. The 16-year-old driver in the Passat lost control over the vehicle, causing the car to flip over several times across multiple lanes of the road. Two passengers, Anthony Foreman, 18, and Jayli Campbell, 16, were thrown from the Passat and died at the scene of the accident. Two passengers survived the crash. Charlotte McQuillen, survived the accident although she suffered serious injury as a result of the collision including reports that say the teen will have to recover from traumatic brain injury. Anthoney Taylor, 16, also survived the crash although his injuries are unclear at this time. Johnson did not flee the scene of the accident according to police reports and cooperated with authorities once officers assessed the scene of the collision. The teen has no prior criminal record, although authorities say his vehicle was found containing a small amount of marijuana. Johnson is being charged with intoxicated driving, although his lawyer says there were no field sobriety tests to confirm the teen’s alleged intoxication. Teen driving: reminders for concerned parents Last week, we blogged on actions parents can take to prevent teen car accidents. Tips include:

Sign a parent-teen contract. Download your free contract now.
Enforcing the rules. Every teen driver needs to know that rules are there for a purpose, and when they are broken, consequences will follow.
Have a DUI backup plan. As most parents can attest, there are many instances when teen drivers run into problems that supersede their know-how and maturity. Drinking is one of those problems. In cases of emergency, your teen should have an open-door policy where they feel safe to call you when they need help – such in the case of drunk driving or driving while intoxicated.

About the Law Offices of Michael Pines, APC The Law Offices of Michael Pines, APC are specialists in car accident injury. Every personal injury attorney in our San Diego office works hard to seek maximum recovery for every injured client. Your case is handled without any out-of-pocket costs, so do not hesitate to speak to a San Diego personal injury lawyer today for a free legal evaluation. Call us at 1-800-655-6585.