When injured in a car accident, the best thing to do is seek medical treatment at the hospital. While it is important to discuss your accident with medical staff, it is important to know what to say so you can protect your legal interests.
Speaking to the doctors about your accident will create the medical record that our personal injury attorneys will use later to prove your damages. You should talk about your injuries and the pain you are experiencing but avoid making statements that could be interpreted as an admission. If another party besides your doctor wants to discuss your accident at the hospital, you should not do so until consulting our personal injury attorneys.
If you are at the hospital after a car accident, our New York City personal injury lawyers can help you with what to say that best protects your future interests. Contact The Carrion Law Firm today at (718) 841-0083 for a free case review.
What to Say at the Hospital After a New York City Car Accident
It is critical to seek medical treatment at the hospital if you have been injured in a car accident in New York City. However, you might not know what to say to medical staff about your accident and how much information you should volunteer. While you will need to discuss your accident with your doctor, knowing what to say can greatly increase your chances of recovering damages in your case. Our Queens personal injury attorneys can provide guidance on what to discuss when visiting the hospital.
Information About Your Accident
When you visit the hospital after being injured in a car accident, you will want to tell your doctors about your accident and how you were injured. This will be important in your legal case later to show that a negligent driver in this accident caused your injuries. When the doctors examine your injuries, they will derive their conclusions about the likely cause. If you reported being in a car accident, your medical records would typically indicate the doctors’ conclusions that the collision caused your injuries.
Even if you had been injured in that area previously, medical staff can differentiate your prior injuries from your current ones. From there, they can still conclude that your past injuries were made worse by the car accident or that new injuries were caused to the weakened body part. These statements will be contained in your hospital records, serving as vital evidence in your legal case.
Information About Your Injuries
It is important to be as specific as possible when describing your injured areas to the medical staff at the hospital. Even if the pain is minor or feels off, tell your doctor about it. They will be able to use the advanced medical technology at the hospital to perform thorough examinations, revealing deeper injuries that might have gone unnoticed. Documenting all the places you feel pain can help tell the story of how your current injuries came about.
When describing the accident you were injured in, you should give the doctor as specific details as possible. Most emergency room doctors have treated countless car accident victims and will have experience with what types of injuries are common for certain types of car accidents. For instance, if you were injured in a rear-end accident but reported no neck pain, the treating physician might still examine the neck, which could reveal whiplash injuries that might have gone unnoticed for hours or days. The more information your doctor can document, the stronger your evidence will be when recovering compensation.
Advice About Further Treatment
After being treated by doctors at the hospital, your medical records and discharge papers will usually include any recommendations for follow-up treatments, surgeries, or medication prescriptions. It is vital to follow this medical advice.
Most car accident victims will be recommended a rehabilitation plan suited to their circumstances and injuries. The plans often include weeks of physical therapy, further diagnostic testing, and scheduled surgeries for more severe cases. Whatever your rehabilitation plan calls for, it is important to follow it as closely as you can. Picking and choosing treatments will become a point of contention when negotiating a settlement, as it could be used to reduce the amount you recover. Insurance companies and defense attorneys can use any deviations from your treatment plan to argue that your injuries are not that serious.
For example, if you were scheduled for physical therapy two times per week but reported maybe once every two weeks, that gap in treatment would be hard to overcome if you are seeking the maximum amount of compensation. If you have issues preventing you from meeting your treatment objectives, our Brooklyn personal injury attorneys can help find a solution that protects your case’s value.
What You Should Not Say at the Hospital After a Car Accident in New York City
While getting the right information to your medical providers is important, you will want to be careful discussing your car accident with other parties, either at the hospital or after. It is not uncommon for victims to describe their accident in a way that makes them seem responsible, even if they did not intend to. Victims can end up saying something they think is completely innocent but can be used against them later. For instance, apologizing for an accident could be construed by an insurance company as admitting fault. Thus, it is best not to speak with the other driver or their insurance provider without legal counsel.
It is also wise to limit what you say regarding actions you took during the accident. Your doctor will need to know about your injuries and that they were caused by a car accident, but specific actions you took during the incident will not be as relevant and could be misused later. If another party wants to discuss your accident, our Long Island personal injury attorneys can guide you on what information you should share.
Our New York City Car Accident Attorneys Can Help
If you were injured in a car accident and are at the hospital, our New York City car accident lawyers can counsel you on what and what not to say. For a free case evaluation, speak to our team at The Carrion Law Firm by calling (718) 841-0083.