Personal injury claim

[2222]

So, does this come down to a fairly short question, namely how do you get the expert report revised? One point to start from is getting a list of your appointments with the physio, plus details from your GP of any visits there. Plus a statement from you that you were taking painkillers for the relevant period, and you told the expert this at the time.

[Gazp1974]

2222. Yes I told him all this at my appointment. My list of medications are codine of which now unfortunately I am addicted to, ibuprofen, Amitriptyline, and should take citalopram but try not to has it as weird side affects

[2222]

Not Dr Zafar by any chance?

[AnotherLevel]

Hi A L. So in 2016 I had a lifting accident at work and it could have and should have been avoided by using a forklift truck ( a pallet of 25ltr drums of paint) so on my second drum of paint as I lifted and twisted I had a sharp stabbing pain in my spine not muscular. all this was entered into the accident book and had to have a week off work and trips to private physio. so from Feb 2016 through to sep 17 I had used up all my holidays as sick days, spent quite a lot of time using painkillers, visits to physio, wore a back support and done exercises to relieve pain.now in 2017 sep I was off with my back and I had a coughing fit and that's when I had stabbing pain in my right buttock(sciatica) so off I go to GP and they prescribe codeine then went to physio but this time they can't resolve it after 2 sessions. I then went to see a chiropractor who took 1 look at me and said you look like you have slipped a disc and because the pain was in my right ankle he said it was severe and refused to do any major work until I had an MRI which I had on Oct 22 17. so I call the law firm I'm using and they start a claim with my employer who admits liability immediately. so I get an appointment with "expert witness" and yes he may be but it was so hard to keep him awake in the half hour I was there it was unreal... so now I have the report back and he concludes that because of the 19 month time frame between accident and diagnosis of herniated disc AND bulging disc above there is no association and yes if I had of been pain free for that 19 months I would totally agree but I wasn't and I explained all this to him....Is that ok?

I think the length of time is a problem between the accident and being diagnosed with the slipped disc. The issue is essentially the medico expert needs to be certain that the accident at work was the cause of the slipped disc.

19 months is a long time between the injury and diagnosis. Usually if you undergo physio for a few months and there's no improvement, you would normally be told to see your GP who would then refer you to a specialist for further investigation.

A quick look up about slipped discs, it says that in the majority of cases, they will heal on their own after a few weeks. If after a few weeks things have not improved, then you should have been sent for an X-Ray/MRI. I'm not quite sure why it took so long in your situation from the accident to getting the scan.

So, does this come down to a fairly short question, namely how do you get the expert report revised? One point to start from is getting a list of your appointments with the physio, plus details from your GP of any visits there. Plus a statement from you that you were taking painkillers for the relevant period, and you told the expert this at the time.

All medical records should have been provided to the medico legal expert. Their role is to review and summarise all the evidence into one document for the purposes of a claim.

[Peridot]

Hi there,
sorry just seen your post. At post #10 you mention a back problem in 2015. Is this a typo or you did infact see your doctor with a back problem pre work accident?
If you had a pre-existing injury then the work accident could be an exacerbation of the original problem with your back.
It is irrelevant whether you have a weakness there already but it will affect the likely damages you could obtain as it could be said that the work accident exacerbated a pre existing injury. Then you are looking at the length of time it would be expected for such an injury to recover which may not be the same for someone who has never had an injury, but it may be that you would be expected to have back problems in the future anyway so your employer couldn’t be responsible for that if there were pre existing issues.
The problem then is to separate out what could be an existing back issue from the work injury. If you had never had an issue with your back then it would be harder to argue that you were likely to have issues in the future in any event.
The next problem you have is the length of time that passed between the work accident itself and the subsequent slipped disc. It is a considerable period in terms of relating it to the work accident.
It may be appropriate to ask the expert some further questions such as ‘but for’ the accident when would he anticipate the current back problem may have manifested itself. However his can be risky as he may become even more adamant that the injuries are completely unrelated. You have to be careful what you ask in these situation you may not like the answers.
Is your lawyer a personal injury specialist. Have they advised you of any further steps to take?
What has the expert actually said about the work injury itself? How long did he anticipate it would take to recover from the work injury? These are the questions that will decide the general damages you receive for the work injury itself, which may not be what you want to hear I’m afraid.
If you have any more information happy to give you more pointers if we can.

[Gazp1974]

Hi there,
sorry just seen your post. At post #10 you mention a back problem in 2015. Is this a typo or you did infact see your doctor with a back problem pre work accident?
If you had a pre-existing injury then the work accident could be an exacerbation of the original problem with your back.
It is irrelevant whether you have a weakness there already but it will affect the likely damages you could obtain as it could be said that the work accident exacerbated a pre existing injury. Then you are looking at the length of time it would be expected for such an injury to recover which may not be the same for someone who has never had an injury, but it may be that you would be expected to have back problems in the future anyway so your employer couldn’t be responsible for that if there were pre existing issues.
The problem then is to separate out what could be an existing back issue from the work injury. If you had never had an issue with your back then it would be harder to argue that you were likely to have issues in the future in any event.
The next problem you have is the length of time that passed between the work accident itself and the subsequent slipped disc. It is a considerable period in terms of relating it to the work accident.
It may be appropriate to ask the expert some further questions such as ‘but for’ the accident when would he anticipate the current back problem may have manifested itself. However his can be risky as he may become even more adamant that the injuries are completely unrelated. You have to be careful what you ask in these situation you may not like the answers.
Is your lawyer a personal injury specialist. Have they advised you of any further steps to take?
What has the expert actually said about the work injury itself? How long did he anticipate it would take to recover from the work injury? These are the questions that will decide the general damages you receive for the work injury itself, which may not be what you want to hear I’m afraid.
If you have any more information happy to give you more pointers if we can.

Hi Peridot i have just saw this post and thank you for your time. I will let you know more tomorrow as ive had my amitryptiline and will start to shut down shortly...thank you
gaz

[Gazp1974]

Good morning Peridot, I looked over my letter from the solicitors last night and saw the expert has only used a probability scale that my slipped discs are not associated with my injury. I told him that I wasn't pain free for the period between the dates. I told my solicitor all this and she wasn't interested, but could I personally e-mail the expert and ask him to revise it?.
many thanks
gary

[Peridot]

Hi Gary,
Unfortunately the expert would only take instructions from the solicitor/lawyer who instructed him. I wouldn't recommend contacting him directly.

The probability scale is usual but I would definitely speak to your solicitor again and say you aren't happy with the report as it doesn't reflect what was said to the expert. I assume the probability is a small one that the work accident caused the issues you're having now? I assume he had copies of all your medical notes when he prepared the report? Did you see your doctor/physio following the accident, whose contemporaneous notes could support your point that you were in pain then?

The experts can only go on their experience, your re-telling of the history of the injury and any notes they have from the GP, hospital or treating medical professional such as physio. Usually it would be necessary for some supporting documentation to be available to assist the expert in preparing his report in this sort of claim. Check what records the expert had available to him when the report was prepared and if he didn't have any ask why not?

[AnotherLevel]

I told my solicitor all this and she wasn't interested

I'm assuming you're on a no win/no fee basis with your solicitor, is this correct? If so, it's in the solicitor's interest to get you as high a payout as possible.

I think the problem is essentially that you are lacking medical/physio notes around the time of the accident up until you had the scan.

but could I personally e-mail the expert and ask him to revise it?.

I would echo what Peridot has said here. Actually if you did make contact and ask him to revise his report, it could potentially damage your claim.

The medico legal experts are there to compile all the medical evidence - they make conclusions on whether the accident resulted in your injuries and if so, the extent of the injuries. If you are still not recovered, they have to give their opinion on when/if you will recover from the injuries.

Even though the medico expert has been employed by your solicitor, he is still classed as an expert witness. Therefore everything he writes in his report must be backed up with evidence and he has a professional obligation to do things in a honest manner.

[Gazp1974]

I'm assuming you're on a no win/no fee basis with your solicitor, is this correct? If so, it's in the solicitor's interest to get you as high a payout as possible.

I think the problem is essentially that you are lacking medical/physio notes around the time of the accident up until you had the scan.



I would echo what Peridot has said here. Actually if you did make contact and ask him to revise his report, it could potentially damage your claim.

The medico legal experts are there to compile all the medical evidence - they make conclusions on whether the accident resulted in your injuries and if so, the extent of the injuries. If you are still not recovered, they have to give their opinion on when/if you will recover from the injuries.

Even though the medico expert has been employed by your solicitor, he is still classed as an expert witness. Therefore everything he writes in his report must be backed up with evidence and he has a professional obligation to do things in a honest manner.

Hi A L, yes I agree with what you're saying there definitely discrepancies in the medical records as it says in his report that I was diagnosed with a slipped disc in 2015 which I wasn't so yes something isn't right and yes my legal eagles are no win no fee. I had just replied to peridots reply and it went awol and my painkillers are kicking in so I will bid you all goodnight...you wouldn't believe I'm only 44!. I will chase up medical records tomorrow and let you know what I come up with.
thanks, Gaz

[Gazp1974]

Good afternoon peridot. Right I have chased up my physiotherapy attendance between those dates and I attended 5 times (as I told the expert) so it brings the gap down to 12 months not 19. And I got onto premex and they have e-mailed me my medical records and there is no diagnosis of a slipped disc in 2015 as he states in his report, Would you say that these inaccuracies would cause a problem.
many thanks
gaz

[Peridot]

Hiya,

Well done getting responses so quickly particularly from the medical agency. I would flag the bits you've found and let your solicitor know. It is still some considerable time between the accident and the issues you are now experiencing, with a previous attendance at the GP in 2015 for a bad back but a better position than prior to your digging for the info.

Write down all the discrepancies and show your findings where they help and lets see what the solicitors says.

[Gazp1974]

Hi peridot.
That's the thing in his report it states the 2015 but on my medical records it's not there
thanks
gax

[Peridot]

Definitely let your solicitor know and request the report is corrected to reflect the actual past history, which in turn should affect the opinion. Just bear in mind though that the longer the period of time between accident and injury the less the likelihood they are connected. Good you’ve sorted some further information to get hints clarified.
Let us know what happens.

[Jinxer]

I don't know if this would help, but I did have a very similar situation to you when I made a claim for an accident. I looked and found a Solicitor who specialized in the condition I had and changed to them after my previous Solicitor recommended me to accept what I thought was a poor offer. The new Solicitor sent me for new medical reports which turned out more favourable for me and they secured me a settlement far greater than I expected.