How to Avoid Harm at the Doctor's Office After a Tampa Car Accident

June 24, 2011

A doctor's office visit can be stressful, no matter what the circumstances, but imagine if you're visiting your doctor after you've been injured in a car accident.

If you've spoken with an attorney about your Florida motor vehicle accident, your attorney may have counseled you on how to protect your accident claim in the exam room. If you haven't spoken to an attorney, there are mistakes you want to avoid to prevent damaging any possible claim you have.

Mistakes to Avoid at a Visit With Your Doctor

Don't Lie About Your Pain or Ignore Pain: The most common, and possibly the most damaging, mistake you can make at a doctor's visit after a car accident is to lie or underestimate your injuries. Lying about any pain or after-effects you're feeling may seriously harm your recovery and your car accident claim.

If your neck hurts, tell the nurse and the doctor. If you have trouble sleeping at night because you have nightmares, tell the doctor. Without a full picture of your health, both physical and mental, a doctor can't make a proper diagnosis or prescribe medicine to assist in the treatment of your car accident injuries.

Don't Speak Vaguely About Your Injuries: Talking about your injuries in a clear way and describing the level and frequency of your pain and injuries will allow your doctor to document your injuries.

Don't Neglect Your Treatment or Prescriptions: When your doctor makes a treatment recommendation, such as physical therapy, chiropractic care, medicine or in-home care, you need to follow that advice. If you ignore the treatment, skip appointments or forgo taking your medicine, no one will believe you when you say that you were hurt. It will naturally be assumed that you were not as injured or in pain as you asserted.

Don't Forget to Disclose Your Health History and Records: When you go to a new doctor for your accident injuries, it's important to bring your health history records and a prescription list with you. That way your doctor can understand your health before the accident and your current health based on what you tell the doctor at your appointment.

The doctor-patient relationship is important to your well-being after a Tampa car accident. Taking care of yourself in the exam room by talking clearly and accurately about your injuries will help with your treatment plan and prevent harm to a personal injury claim.

If you have questions about what to do after a serious car accident, contact an experienced Tampa car accident attorney.

Article provided by Mitchell Lloyd Feldman, Esq.
Visit us at www.fightfortheinjured.com