When someone is suffering from a personal injury and they are accused of exaggerating, faking, or lying about the pain, it can be a devastating blow—emotionally and financially. Not only does the accident victim have to deal with physical pain, medical expenses, property damage, loss of income, and other issues but they also have to prove they are not making up the symptoms. If an accident victim takes the correct steps to properly document the collision and injuries, it will help to prove and support a personal injury claim.
Steps to Take to Prove Your Case
Insurance companies, medical experts, and defense attorneys often throw around the term “malingering” when trying to discredit an injured person or undervalue a claim. Malingering is a term that means faking or exaggerating the results of an injury. Read the following tips to learn about how to avoid accusations of exaggerating your symptoms.
- Document Your Symptoms – The best evidence to fight a malingering accusation is with medical records. These documents will not only describe the plaintiff’s treatment plan, but also record subjective complaints, objective limitations upon examination, diagnostic tests and labwork, as well as their progress (or lack of progress);
- Be Honest with your Doctor – The only and best way to avoid a malingering claim is to always be completely honest with all medical providers about pain levels. Even if you feel better some days or a medication or procedure gives you some temporary relief, be sure to honestly inform your treating physicians and therapists. Having a 10/10 pain level all the time even with medication and refusing surgical intervention will be scrutinized by the insurance carrier, medical experts, defense counsel, and ultimately, a jury.
- Keep Getting Treatment – Gaps in treatment will virtually always conjure up a malingering allegation by the other side. While there are situations that make these gaps unavoidable (such as lack of transportation, schedule conflicts, and getting sick) it is imperative to be consistent and stick to the treatment plan provided by your doctor. Getting overtreated, or treated for too long, can also cause a malingering allegation if the treatment does not fall in line with the level of injuries suffered;
- Avoid Other Activities – If an injured person is unable to work because of their symptoms, then other activities—including cleaning the home, doing yard work, exercising, shopping, going out to bars, and/or traveling. Avoid engaging in activities that require the same physical activity that hinders you from working.
The above steps are just a handful of behaviors that you should avoid engaging in so that you are not accused of malingering, or that the allegation becomes much harder to prove.
Our Attorneys Will Fight for You
The attorneys at H&P Law have successfully fought to recover monetary compensation on behalf of the injured in Las Vegas and throughout the state of Nevada. Our lawyers know the tactics the insurance companies and their defense counsel use to try to avoid liability for personal injury claims. We can gather evidence to make your case the strongest possible and seek the best possible outcome under Nevada law. Contact us today.
