Actions speak louder than words - get treatment if you're hurt

After 24 years as a Toledo Personal Injury Attorney, the one thing that drives me crazy the most are clients who destroy their cases. A major pain for me are clients who claim they really have serious personal injuries but do not get consistent treatment to justify and help prove their claims. I am a strong believer that actions speak louder than words. Someone who is legitimately hurt seeks medical treatment in a consistent and timely matter. A client has a duty to ask tough questions and be proactive with his attorney and doctor. Over the years, I have seen on a regular basis the insurance company make the following arguments against some of my clients: 1. The client missed 75% of his physical therapy visits. If the injury was that serious, the client would have followed the doctor's orders. 2. There is a 60-day gap from the emergency room visit until the first doctor’s visit. The injury you are claiming must be the result of some other trauma that happened in the 60-day time period. 3. Your client treated for 6 months on a regular basis and then returned to work. There is a 3-month gap of no treatment and then the client gets surgery. Some work related issue must be the cause of the surgery. We will pay for the 6 months of treatment. Consistent treatment and documentation is the key to proving your case. Act as a reasonable person under the circumstances. Your actions speak louder to the insurance company than your excuses. To learn more about these issues, please order a free copy of The Ohio Accident Book, which I co-authored. You can order it at www.ohioaccidentbook.com.