Personal Injury: The Importance Of Full Disclosure To Your Doctor

One of the most important ways to strengthen your personal injury claim is to ensure your doctor knows about all your injuries.

Why Patients Don’t Fully Disclose Their Injuries To Their Doctors

Most patients don’t mention all of their injuries to their doctors, and this can come back and hurt your personal injury claim. One reason patients don’t fully disclose to their doctors is that the patients feel rushed. We get it. When we meet with our doctors, we don’t get a lot of time. Patients often feel rushed and fail to mention important aspects of their injuries.

Some patients also fail to mention all of their injuries because they are only focusing on the most painful or obvious injuries. For example, if a patient has a broken arm and a some back pain, the patient will typically talk about the fractured arm because it’s the most pressing problem and not give the back pain its due.

Other patients don’t fully disclose their injuries to their doctors because they don’t think minor aches and pains are worth the discussion.

Finally, some patients don’t want to disclose information that they think is bad or might harm their case.

Complete Information Matters

Don’t make this mistake. It is critical that your doctor know all of your injuries. First, doctors can only treat the injuries that you tell them about. Second, sometimes those “minor aches and pains” are the symptom of a bigger problem. For example, a little tingling in a finger or toes can be a sign of a major nerve injury.

Finally, full disclosure also helps your claim in several ways. Most importantly, insurance companies put a lot of stock in what your medical records say. If an injury is not documented in your medical records, then the insurance company likely won’t compensate you for it.

Additionally, if the case goes far enough, your doctor’s testimony can minimized because you weren’t honest with your doctor. Imagine a cross examination of your doctor where the other attorney is asking questions like this:

Question: Did Ms. Smith tell you that she had this problem in the past?
Doctor Answer: No.
Question: Did Ms. Smith tell you that she had this other problem in the past?
Doctor Answer: No.
Question: Did Ms. Smith tell you that she had this third problem in the past?
Doctor Answer: No.
Question: Would you have liked to have had this information?
Doctor Answer: Yes
Question: Would knowing this information affect your opinions about Ms. Smith’s injuries and what caused those injuries?
Doctor Answer: Probably.

Not being fully honest with your doctor puts the doctor in a terrible position and makes it look like you’re not being honest.

Ways To Minimize Problems

You have to be your best advocate and make sure you fully disclose your history, your condition and your injuries to your doctor. Most people can remember those if they are intentional about it. But for some people, the best way to minimize the problems is to have a list of issues you can hand to your doctor. That way, you won’t be rushed, you won’t forget anything, and you can make sure all relevant information is there.

Let Us Help You

If you’ve been injured in an accident, contact us today for expert guidance on protecting your health and your legal rights.

For additional information, refer to our personal injury help pages.