Do Pre-Existing Conditions Affect Your Texas Personal Injury Claim?

At Charles J. Argento, our Houston personal injury attorney knows that merely mentioning a pre-existing condition — an injury, illness, or other medical condition — can trigger a response from Texas residents because they impact their daily activities.

Pre-existing conditions may include anything from high blood pressure that requires daily medication and asthma that requires an emergency inhaler to an achy elbow from a broken arm from a bike accident a decade ago and soreness on long car rides because of a back injury during a pedestrian accident two years ago.

The problem is that if you are in a Texas vehicle collision or work accident today and have a pre-existing condition, it can worsen during the latest accident.

The question is, can the at-fault party’s insurance provider deny the injured person compensation by blaming the pre-existing condition on the extent of their current injuries? We have answers.

Seeking Professional Medical Help Can Outline the Totality of Your Injuries

When you seek medical care immediately after an accident with injuries, your physicians can help separate your pre-existing condition from the injuries you received and, if true, help prove the accident caused it to worsen.

Often, recovery is more difficult when our clients must address new injuries while dealing with the aggravation of a pre-existing condition, and medical treatment costs will increase exponentially when addressing both.

The good news is that you can legally pursue the negligent party who caused your injuries for total financial compensation. The at-fault person, party, or entity is still responsible for all damage resulting from the accident they caused.

It is the insurance company that is going to scoff at covering expenses related to pre-existing conditions. You do not have to let a pre-existing condition prevent you from seeking justice for the harm caused by an accident. We can help.

Protect Your Medical Records from Insurance Company Requests

When the at-fault party’s insurance company contacts you to seek your side of the story, they will use misleading tactics to access your complete medical records under the guise of evaluating your injuries for settlement purposes.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) states that individuals, companies, and other service providers cannot gather another’s medical information without their written permission.

Insurance representatives use long-standing company procedures to extract this information from injury victims by asking them to sign a waiver that releases the medical records from the accident. However, the language can be confusing enough to give the insurance company legal access to ALL medical records, including information about pre-existing conditions.

They will then use that information to blame your current medical problems on pre-existing conditions or previous injuries to avoid paying your complete financial recovery needs.

The insurance company will do everything to undervalue or deny your personal injury claim. Providing access to your medical records will only help support their side of the argument. We can help you avoid this common mistake.

Contact Our Experienced Houston Personal Injury Attorneys Today

If another person’s negligence in Texas has injured you, contact our experienced personal injury lawyer in Houston today to schedule a free consultation by calling (713)-225-5050 or contacting us online so that together, we can pursue justice by holding the negligent person or combination of parties liable for your full financial recovery.