Miami car accident victim receives settlement following auto accident

A 43 year-old Haitian immigrant was injured in an auto accident in Miami while sitting in the passenger seat of his friend’s vehicle. The two were on their way to church and were stopped at a red light when they were rear-ended by a pickup truck owned by a large construction company. Apparently, the driver of the construction company’s vehicle was blinded by the sun, which had been very close to setting at the time of the accident.

Miami auto accident victim is rushed to the hospital with complaints of neck pain

Our client was immediately rushed to the hospital with complaints of neck pain. He was strapped to a backboard and placed in a “C collar” before being placed in the ambulance. At the hospital, x-rays were taken of his cervical spine which revealed no fracture of the vertebre. For unknown reasons, no MRI was taken of his spine, thus there was no diagnoses regarding any potential cervical disk herniation or bulge. He was prescribed pain killers and instructed to seek follow-up care with an orthopedic doctor.

Auto accident victim seeks orthopedic care

The day after the accident, our client awoke to find that his body was stiff and that his range of motion was severely limited. He was in a great deal of pain and was contemplating returning to the emergency room for treatment. He contacted the attorneys at the Law Office of Dell and Schaefer for assistance. Our attorneys met with him that day and were struck by his physical condition. Though he was not paralyzed, our client was exhibiting symptoms of a person who was severely injured. He was able to get an appointment with a board certified orthopedic surgeon the following day.

Miami auto accident victim gets cervical MRI

The orthopedic surgeon also noted our client’s dire situation and recommended that an MRI of the cervical spine (neck) be taken. Our client was able to have an MRI taken within two days and the results were concerning. The MRI revealed that our client suffered from a herniated disk of the cervical spine which appeared to be pressing on the nerve root. This was causing our client severe pain at almost all times and was limiting his range of motion. The orthopedic surgeon was of the opinion that our client may be in need of a neck fusion but wanted to try some conservative treatment first. Our client was prescribed a course of physical therapy to take place three times per week.

Defendant’s insurance company denies the claim

Initially, the insurance company for the Defendant construction company denied any liability arguing that our client’s vehicle stopped short in front of their insured’s truck. They quickly changed their tune however once they realized that our client’s vehicle was stopped at a red light at the time of the accident and hadn’t been moving at all right prior to the accident. The insurance company abandoned that argument and began to argue that our client had pre-existing injuries and degeneration in his spine due to that fact that he was over the age of 40.

Car Accident Attorneys Dell and Schaefer fight the insurance company

The auto accident attorneys at the law office of Dell and Schaefer denied pre-existing injuries or degeneration on behalf of our client. It is a common tactic for an insurance company to use any method whatsoever to get out of paying a claim or to minimize a claim. The most common argument is that a Plaintiff has a degenerative spine. They will argue that anyone over the age of 30 has already begun to degenerate and therefore, the accident is not the sole cause of the injury. The next common argument is that the Plaintiff’s prior employment caused injury. This is especially prevalent in situations where a Plaintiff worked as a laborer or was an athlete. The bottom line is that an insurance company will use any reason to deny a claim.

Attorneys Dell and Schaefer prepare for litigation

We vehemently denied any pre-existing injuries or degeneration. We notified the insurance company that we would be forced to file a lawsuit if they continued to deny causation of our client’s injury. It became clear that our client could not have suffered from such a debilitating injury prior to this accident without making one visit to a doctor with complaints of pain. The radiologist who read our client’s MRI was also of the opinion that his injury was not old and appeared to have occurred recently. Based on that opinion, our lawyers were prepared to show a jury that our client was injured in this accident and that his pain was not the result of an old injury.

Miami auto accident victim settles his case without the need for litigation

Our attorneys prepared a civil complaint and summons and were ready to file suit against the defendant. The insurance company, knowing they could not make false accusations any longer, decided to make our client an undisclosed settlement offer which would compensate him for his past and future damages as well as his past and future pain and suffering. After some negotiations, our attorneys were able to achieve a settlement that was more than acceptable to our client. He was very happy with the results of his case and also reported feeling secure knowing that he would be able to afford any potential surgery should it ever become necessary.