Sustaining an injury in an accident can be a life-altering event, but the situation becomes more complicated when you have a pre-existing medical condition. A common concern for accident victims is how a prior injury or health issue might affect their ability to receive fair compensation.
If you're dealing with a complicated personal injury claim, Antaramian Law, APC, is here to provide dedicated legal support. Led by Attorney Andrew Antaramian, the firm serves California communities all throughout the state including Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, Ventura, and Kern Counties.
For nearly a decade, Attorney Antaramian served as a defense attorney for insurance companies. This inside knowledge allows him to anticipate and counter the strategies insurance adjusters use, particularly when they try to deny or reduce claims based on pre-existing conditions.
A pre-existing condition is any medical issue, injury, or health problem that a person had before the accident occurred. These can range from chronic illnesses like arthritis or degenerative disc disease to old injuries from a previous fall or car crash. When you file a personal injury claim, the goal is to get compensation for the harm caused directly by the at-fault party's negligence.
Insurance companies often focus on pre-existing conditions to challenge a claim. Their adjusters may argue that your pain and medical needs are not the result of the recent accident but are instead related to your prior health status.
They might try to suggest that you would have needed the same medical treatment regardless of the new incident. This tactic is used to minimize the amount they must pay or to deny the claim altogether. It places the burden on the injured person to prove how the accident specifically impacted their health.
When a new accident affects a pre-existing condition, the law distinguishes between two key concepts: aggravation and exacerbation. While they sound similar, they have different meanings in a personal injury case.
Aggravation refers to a situation where the new accident makes a pre-existing condition permanently worse. For example, if someone has mild arthritis in their back that is manageable with occasional medication, a car accident could cause a herniated disc at the same location. This new injury could make the arthritis significantly more painful and debilitating for the rest of their life. In this case, the accident has permanently aggravated the underlying condition.
Exacerbation, on the other hand, describes a temporary worsening of a pre-existing condition. This is often called a "flare-up." Using the same arthritis example, if the car accident caused the person's back pain to become severe for a few months before returning to its previous, manageable state, this would be an exacerbation. The accident made the condition worse, but only for a limited time.
The distinction is important because it directly influences the amount of compensation you can seek. An aggravation that leads to a permanent decline in health, lifelong pain, or the need for ongoing medical care typically results in a higher settlement value.
An exacerbation, while still compensable, covers the temporary increase in pain, suffering, and medical costs during the flare-up period. An experienced attorney can help gather the medical evidence needed to prove the extent to which the accident worsened your condition.
California law provides a key protection for personal injury victims with pre-existing conditions through a legal principle known as the "eggshell skull rule." This rule, also called the "thin skull rule," states that the at-fault party must take the victim as they find them. In other words, a defendant is responsible for all the harm they cause, even if the victim was more susceptible to injury than a healthier person would have been.
If a person has a condition that makes them more fragile—like having a "skull as thin as an eggshell"—the negligent party cannot use this frailty as a defense. For instance, if a minor fender-bender would barely affect an average person but causes severe injuries to someone with osteoporosis, the at-fault driver is still liable for the full extent of those severe injuries. The defendant cannot argue that they should only pay for the minor damages a healthy person would have sustained.
This doctrine is a powerful tool for California plaintiffs. It reinforces that the defendant's responsibility is not diminished just because the victim had underlying health issues. The core of the legal argument is that the defendant's actions were the direct cause of the harm, regardless of the victim's physical state before the incident.
To build a strong case, you must clearly demonstrate how the accident affected your pre-existing condition. This requires thorough documentation and clear evidence.
First, complete transparency with your doctors is essential. Immediately after the accident, you should seek a medical evaluation and be completely honest about your medical history, including all prior injuries and conditions. Also, describe your new symptoms in detail, explaining how they differ from what you experienced before the accident. Your medical records will become a cornerstone of your claim.
Your attorney may work with medical specialists who can review your health records and provide a professional opinion. These medical professionals can write reports or testify about how the accident specifically aggravated or exacerbated your condition. They can distinguish between your baseline level of pain or limitation before the accident and your condition afterward.
Diagnostic imaging, such as X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans, taken both before and after the accident, can provide concrete evidence of changes to your body. Comparing these images can visually prove that the accident caused new harm. Testimony from friends, family, or coworkers about your physical abilities and quality of life before and after the incident can also strengthen your case by providing a more personal account of the changes you have endured.
Andrew Antaramian, the founder of Antaramian Law, APC, offers a unique perspective to accident victims. After spending many years representing large insurance companies in personal injury cases, he saw firsthand the profound impact that injuries had on people and their families.
This experience motivated him to change his focus. He now dedicates his practice to helping real people, not corporations. He has gained invaluable insight into the opposition's strategies, evaluations, and tactics, giving his clients a distinct advantage.
If you have a pre-existing condition aggravated or exacerbated due to a personal injury, call Antaramian Law, APC to schedule a consultation.
Sustaining an injury in an accident can be a life-altering event, but the situation becomes more complicated when you have a pre-existing medical condition. A common concern for accident victims is how a prior injury or health issue might affect their ability to receive fair compensation.
After an accident, one of the first questions most people ask is, "What is the time limit for filing a personal injury claim?" This is a vital question because failing to meet the filing deadline - known legally as the statute of limitations - could result in losing your opportunity to pursue compensation for your injuries.
