The Importance of Medical Records in a Personal Injury Case

If you have been injured in an accident, filing a personal injury claim is an important step that must be taken in order to be fairly compensated for your injuries. Obtaining your medical records is pivotal when doing this in order to provide concrete evidence regarding your injuries and the impact that they have had on your life.

In this article, we will explore why medical records are an essential part of a personal injury case and how they can be used to strengthen your claim.

What Are Medical Records?

In understanding the significant role that medical records play in a personal injury case, it is first important to establish what they are.

Medical records are detailed, comprehensive documents that lay out a patient’s medical history including diagnoses, appointments, medications, imaging scans, surgeries, hospitalizations, rehabilitation, and treatments, along with any other pertinent information regarding one’s health conditions. Moreover, medical records are an official account of the medical care that a patient has received over the course of their life.

Establishing Causation

One of the most difficult parts of any personal injury case is proving causation. Moreover, it must be proven that the injuries were directly caused by the accident in order to have a valid claim. Medical records become extremely valuable in establishing causation in that they provide insight into the patient’s medical conditions both before and after the accident.

So long as medical records are consistent and timely, it can be shown that the injuries were a direct result of the incident and not caused by any other pre-existing or underlying conditions, as well as any unrelated events.

Proving the Severity of Your Injury

The next reason why medical records are incredibly valuable in a personal injury case is that they can provide crucial evidence regarding the severity and extent of the injuries you sustained in the accident.

Medical records will provide the court with a detailed account of any medical procedures, tests, treatments, and diagnoses that you underwent as a result of the accident, therefore proving how serious your injuries are. This will be important when determining the amount of damages and compensation you will be rewarded for your injuries.

Demonstrating the Impact on Quality of Life

Another reason why medical records are vital to personal injury cases is that they can help demonstrate how the quality of your life has been negatively impacted or changed as a result of the injuries you sustained in the accident. This becomes very important when determining non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life, that are difficult to put a monetary value on.

Filing a Personal Injury Claim

If you have suffered an injury in an accident, it is important that you file a personal injury claim with the help of a New Haven personal injury lawyer. A personal injury lawyer can help you gather important evidence, including medical records, to help support your claim, as well as ensure that your rights are protected.

Additionally, an injury lawyer will help make sure that you recover maximum compensation for the injuries you sustained and the hardships that resulted from the accident.