All too often, defense lawyers insist at case evaluation hearings, depositions, arbitrations and in court that auto accident victims with pre-existing injuries should not recover any – or should recover less - pain and suffering compensation for their injuries.
The defense lawyers make these misleading arguments in order to minimize the perception of the severity of victims’ injuries and to reduce at-fault drivers’ legal liability and responsibility for the harms and losses they cause.
Not only are these arguments untrue, but they are unsupported by the law.
Under Michigan law, the aggravation or triggering of a preexisting condition can constitute a compensable injury. As the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in Wilkinson v. Lee, 617 N.W.2d 305 (2000), “it was certainly foreseeable that a result of the driver’s negligence in causing an auto accident could be physical injury, including head trauma, to an occupant of the other vehicle. The fact that this particular plaintiff [who had a “preexisting brain tumor”] was unusually vulnerable to head injuries does not relieve the defendants of responsibility for those damages.”
When a person with a pre-existing injury, medical condition or surgery is involved in a bad car accident, defense lawyers focus on the pre-existing medical conditions and injuries so they can try to help the at-fault driver escape being held accountable for the personal injury he or she has caused.
The defense unsuccessfully made that exact argument in our...
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