What is Back Pain
Back pain is one of the most common reasons people seek medical care. In fact, about 3 in 4 adults will experience back pain during their lifetime! The term back pain...
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should i fight or sett..
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I had l4-5 s1 bak cage with fusion may 30th of 2007. June 11th 2007 was in an auto accident and hit by an unincherd driver. I my self had a 100.000 unincherd moterist coverage policie with my own insurance company. my insurance company quit paying for thing 4 mo after the accident when i seen a dr. they wanted me to go see. When they quit paying for things i hired a lawyer and have been fighting them ever sence. Friday was my pretrial a panial of 3 lawyer acted as the jury. My lawyer and the insurance comp lawyer had 15 min to persent there case . After witch the panial of three layers reviewed everything and came back with an offer of what they thought my case was worth. My lawyer was shocked that they said my case was worth 16,000. Now i have to make an dishion to take the offer or to go to trial , If i chose not to take the offer and go to trial and i louse i have to pay the insurance comp lawyers fees and that is what is scaring me . I havnt worked sence my surgery and dont see my self ever working again. There case is based on i have a history of back problums 2 prev surgerys (1992-1997)disocktomys. I am a smoker and i am over weight i know i shouldnt smoke becouse of the new studys on smoking and back pain . But it sounds like they baseing there whole case on my smokeing and beening over weight and pass bake problums. Any one with any thoughts of what you your self would do please let me know. Should i go on or should i settal.
Posted on 05/17/09, 08:05 am |
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when ever you have an accident or an injury at work your previous back condition will considerably hurt you, more than the weightand the smoking. no one can tell you what to do. Have you tried suing the uninsured motorist? surely they should be held accountable. I know they will drag this out for a loooong time and with your previous back problems it may not go well for you. i hope everything works out well for you. how ever you decide. good luck 
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I am not sure what you should do. perhaps a counter offer could possibly show how scared they are you could do better in a trial. I will pray for you that you get what is fair for you.
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First off all you said was your lawyer was shocked, as in that is more then I thought or way less? Personally 16,000.00 sounds low, but with your history of back issues that may be why. It is hard to prove the accident really hurt you if you are already hurt. (I don't agree but that is how they will look at it.) I would listen to your lawyer, he does this for a living. But if you do go through with it make sure it is a JURY TRIAL. I say that because regular people are more likely to go your way and give you more money then a judge alone.
I would also see what your docs think about this. They would need to be able to say here are the issues prior to the accident, and the outcome we expected. Now this is what the accident caused and the new issues you face to deal with the after effects of the accident. I wish I could tell you what to do but without knowing all the informetions I could only guess. And the 16,000 sounds fair if it did not cause you any or little personal harm, and your car was taken care of. I swear, you should lose the right to drive if you get cause without insurance until you get it and then be forced to go to a police station every month to prove you carry insurance. That might stop a few from doing it. Best of luck, Cristy
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WOW! What a small amt they value ya back for! OMG! I would deff. fight! I mean....how long is $16,000 gonna last ya? What then? How do ya survive? No.....I would fight this one! I hope I don't face the same issues as ya do! I am in shock on this one! Hugs hun...I know how much pain ya in....and to insult ya with $16,000! AGHHHHHHHHH! Not even enough to pay the atty. off and medical bills!
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i would not settle they for sure will offer u a second amount,, prob not a third amt. though. i have been through this,, if u can get future medical being open that would help alot to for there prob be future problems,,, good luck
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My question is - were you allowed to drive just 11 days after your fusion? Did that play a factor at all in how badly you were hurt? With such little time after the surgery, the fusion did not have time to harden at all. If the fusion was healed, the accident might not have done as much damage.
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I agree if you just had had a fusion it had not even come close to having a chance to heal. That takes monts, up to 6=9 months even.
Talk to your lawyer, I can't believe he didn't already say something to you, like that was stupid?? Do you even trust this guy? How much were you, and he guessing they would offfer. So what if you got your frigging car fixed. You don't even know really what damage has been done to you back from this do you?? I might have missed that? I am a nurse, and I just get so mad at lawyers, and insurance companies. It's like they work together at times to share the money. Then we end u out in the cold. I just wish you the best of the best of luck, and hope you end up with the hughe settlement. One that will take care of you the rest of your life. Debbie
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what about all your medical expenses for your back. I am overweight too and suffer from back pain and yes it puts more strain but the bottom line is you do need compensation. Are you looking for permanent disability. You may qualify and plus they can go back to when you stopped working. I would tell your lawyer that you want to go to trial with jury and make it known how you feel like keeping a journal everyday about your pain. save the discussion question and present that too. I have so been here with workers comp. You can get through this i will be there for you.
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But if you let this drag on, your life will revolve around the accident, your bitterness against the insurance company and their lawyers and your pains. You'd be depressed even more causing you more pains. I was also in auto accidents and had to fight my insurance company and deal with nasty lawyers who brought up my childhood and past problems and depression to intimidate me and practically coerce me into settling.
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I would not take that offer. Also your doctor will be able to tell them what happened to you from this accident, vs the other back surgeries you had. I also agree with what someone said above that even your lawyer was shocked, but why then didn't he argue with them and ask for more. Tell him no to that amount, and send him back to them so he can ask for more, see what they offer.I would not worry about you losing, and having to pay the fees, I am sure you would win in court with a jury trial, and come away with a larger amount
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