Posted on Monday, January 22nd, 2018 at 11:14 pm
When you are injured in an accident, it is very important that you see a doctor as soon as possible. If you are not transported to the emergency room from the accident scene, you should see your doctor the next day. For you to recover compensation from the party who was responsible for the accident, you must prove that you suffered damages. The best way for you to prove you were physically injured is through medical records.
Medical record document your injuries, your recovery, and permanent disabilities. Therefore, your medical records become a crucial element of your personal injury claim. However, you want to be careful who has access to your medical records. You also want to control when those medical records are released.
Signing a Medical Release or Authorization
There are very few people who have access to your medical records without your consent. Even as your personal injury attorneys, we cannot access your medical records without a signed consent from you. An adjuster for the other person’s insurance company might approach you early in the case requesting a signed medical release. The insurance company might request copies of the medical records to confirm you were injured before it can pay your claim. This is partially true.
The insurance company will require copies of your medical records to prove that you suffered the injuries and damages you claim. However, the adjuster may also be attempting to access your full medical history. He may not explain the release you are signing is not limited to the records from your accident. Why would the insurance company be interested in your old medical records?
In some cases, an insurance company might try to use something in your medical history to deny or devalue your current claim. For example, if you were involved in another accident or you had a prior illness, the company may try to argue that your current injury is the result of a past accident or illness. While this may not be the case, the allegation could make recovering full compensation for your accident claim more difficult.
Allow Your Attorney to Release Medical Records
Instead of signing a medical release for the insurance company, we encourage you to allow our attorneys to prepare a settlement claim and release the records that are related to your injury to the insurance company. We will not hide relevant facts or information or withhold relevant medical records; however, we do not believe the company has the right to analyze your full medical history if it has nothing to do with the current injury.
Preparing a strong settlement demand involves many steps, including analyzing medical records and placing the medical records with the demand to support the allegations of injury. Our Sacramento personal injury attorneys handle this for you so that you do not need to worry about what records are related and what records do not need to be included in the settlement package.
Call Now for a Free Consultation with a Sacramento Personal Injury Attorney
Our attorneys handle every step in the process of filing a personal injury claim. Let us take care of the tedious details of filing and settling the claim, including dealing with adjusters and insurance company attorneys, while you focus on your recovery.
To schedule your free legal consultation with a Sacramento personal injury attorney, call The Tiemann Law Firm at (916) 999-9000 or visit our website.
