Does My Personal Injury Claim Forfeit My Privacy?

Release of Past Medical Records People often ask: why do I have to give my medical records to the insurance company for things that happened before the accident? Accident victims have a very legitimate concern that personal information of health issues that have nothing to do with the accident injury should be turned over to a big faceless corporation such as the insurance company. The initial reaction to a request for prior medical records is that it is none of the insurance company’s business. Unfortunately under the law the insurance company does have every right to obtain these records of past health issues and procedures before they will make any payment of a claim. The reason for this is that the insurance company for the person who caused the accident is responsible only for the injury caused by the accident and not for any prior injury or condition which may have contributed to the victim’s physical problems. So in order to be sure that there is not something in the victim’s past that is partly to blame for the injury, the insurance company will insist on getting all past medical records for 5 or 10 years before the accident. A typical example is a person who has had back pains in the past and has, perhaps, received some treatments from a chiropractor. When that person is rear-ended with a resulting flare-up with pain in the back, the insurance company will claim that not all of the injury is caused by the accident, but is attributable to the back problems which existed before the accident. To help people understand the process for pursuing an injury claim Don Lowry as written a book Guide for the Prospective Injury Client. To get your free copy sign up at http://www.lowrylaw.com/reports/the-big-secrets-about-maine-injury-claims-what-no-one-is-telling-you.cfm or call Lowry & Associates at 1-800-999-LEGAL (5342).