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The hidden relationship between doctors, car accident victims, and personal injury lawyers

If your personal injury lawyer is telling you which doctors to treat with and what treatment to get after a car accident, this may not be the right lawyer for you. A personal injury lawyer should concentrate on the law and winning your case. Unfortunately, many law firms have arrangements with doctors offices that are not beneficial to their clients, especially with car accident victims. Essentially, the medical office agrees to refer cases to the law firm and the law firm agrees to refer patients to the doctors office.

How does this referral practice adversely affect the client? First, it means that the client is not always getting a doctor with the right qualifications for their specific injuries. There are many orthopedic doctors and some specialize in specific areas of the body like the feet, shoulder, hands, and back. You should be treated by a doctor based upon the doctors credentials and your specific injuries, not based upon a referral network with your lawyer.

The second problem is that car accident victims are having their insurance coverage depleted by certain medical offices for the wrong reasons. If you are injured in a motor vehicle accident your health insurance coverage is usually provided by the insurance company for the vehicle you were in during the accident. If a pedestrian is struck by a car or truck, the insurance for the vehicle that hit you usually provides the coverage. You must use this insurance coverage first and absolutely must submit the proper paperwork within 30 days of the accident or lose all health coverage for this accident.

This is called no-fault coverage and it will pay your medical bills, lost wages, transportation costs, and other miscellaneous expenses, but only up to $50,000, unless additional coverage was purchased. Once this $50,000 of coverage is depleted, you may be unable to receive further medical coverage if you do not have any other private health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid. This is especially important for accident victims who are undocumented.

Some medical offices are offering car services for motor vehicle accident victims to entice patients. Many do not realize that the car services offered are not free services, but are usually billed by the medical offices to the no-fault insurance company for payment. This slowly depletes your available insurance coverage for future medical treatment.

If a client specifically asks the lawyer to recommend a reputable doctor because they cannot find one on their own, I give the client a few choices of doctors who have excellent credentials to address their specific needs and let the client choose. You can check a doctors qualifications using a website www.nydoctorprofile.com. The website will also list whether the doctor has had any malpractice settlements or verdicts against him or her.

When a client asks me if they should have surgery and will it help the case, I tell him or her that you should ask your doctor about the surgery, get a second medical opinion if unsure, and then decide for yourself based upon what is right for you medically. There are serious risks for any surgery, and I would never recommend taking those risks simply to help bolster the value of a case.

As personal injury lawyers, we should fight for the most money we can obtain for our client. However, we should also fight for the best medical treatment for our client as well. There are many things that a good personal injury lawyer does in representing an injured client. Telling the clients which doctors to choose and what treatment to get is not one of them, so select your doctor and personal injury lawyer carefully by typying car accident lawyers near me in Google.

Select A Practice Area

Construction Accident

$1,700,000

$1.7 million verdict in New York County against the driver of a delivery truck who struck a man as he was crossing the street within the crosswalk in Manhattan.

Motor Vehicle Accident

$3,600,000

$3.6 Million settlement in New York Supreme Court for a Spanish speaking construction worker who fell off a 6 foot ladder and landed onto metal and wooden debris. The worker required lumbar spinal surgery for his injuries and needed surgeries to both knees from the fall. The worker could not return to work and suffered depression from his injuries resulting in a suicide attempt.

Construction Accident

$3,200,000

$3.2 million verdict in Queens Supreme Court for an undocumented Polish speaking construction worker who fell 12 feet during a demolition project. The worker fractured a vertebrae and herniated several discs in his spine requiring surgery. The plaintiff was unable to return back to work due to his injuries.

Motor Vehicle Accident

$1,500,000

$1.5 million verdict in Supreme Court Kings County for a woman struck by a car that jumped the curb and hit the pedestrian while standing on the sidewalk across from Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

Slip And Fall Accident

$1,900,000

$1.9 million verdict in New York Supreme Court for a bank manager who slipped and fell on a wet floor, resulting in spinal injuries. The building owner knew about a recurring leak inside the basement cafeteria but failed to correct the problem.

Construction Accident

$2,000,000

$2 million settlement in Queens Supreme Court for Polish construction worker who fell 2 stories from a bucket. The worker’s supervisor told the construction worker to ride the material bucket down to use the bathroom because it would save time. The worker fractured his pelvis in several places requiring surgery and was unable to return to work.

Medical Malpractice

$4,500,000

Defense counsel offers 11 cents to settle before trial and the jury renders a verdict of $4.5 million dollars for a medical malpractice victim and his wife. The action was commenced in New York Supreme Court for a patient who suffered massive internal bleeding during a lower back surgery when the surgeon negligently cut an artery and failed to promptly treat the condition, causing a loss of oxygen and injury to the brain. The anesthesiologist failed to properly monitor the patient’s vitals during the surgery and alert the surgeon of the drop in blood pressure.

Assault

$1,250,000

$1.25 million settlement in New York Supreme Court against building owner for negligent security that caused two women to be assaulted while leaving work. A masked man entered their elevator from a floor that was supposed to be closed off for construction. The assailant used a metal pipe to attack the two women. The two women split the settlement monies.

Construction Accident

$1,500,000

$1.5 Million settlement in New York Supreme Court for a construction worker who was struck by a piece of concrete that fell on his head and back. Workers above were chipping concrete despite knowing that people were working directly below them. The plaintiff required surgery on his neck but made a good recovery.

Medical Malpractice

$3,900,000

$3.9 million settlement in Supreme Court Kings County for a Brooklyn man who suffered a stroke shortly following an eye surgery. The patient was given medical clearance for local anesthesia but instead was placed under general anesthesia for 7 hours. The patient’s blood pressure was not well controlled resulting in a 30 minute hypertensive emergency near the end of the operation. The patient died after 7 years of living in different nursing homes.

Slip, Trip and Fall, New York

$1,400,000

$1.4 Million settlement for Queens Hispanic woman who slipped and fell on ice walking out the door of her rented basement apartment.

CLIENT REVIEWS

    I did not think myself that we will win this difficult matter and become victorious, especially after being rejected by numerous other attorneys…but your professionalism Brett, dedication and determination, not to mention a huge heart, was how we prevailed

ALEKSANDER J.

    When I brought my situation to a local attorney he directed me to Brett Nomberg, and I’m so glad he did. Someone always was able to give me a status of what was going on. Your team made my wife and I realize we were dealing with a truly professional firm and at the same time, sympathetic to our needs. Great job. Excellent Customer Service.

GREG M.

    I want to thank you for all the help and support that was given to my parents by you and your colleagues. Your firm’s time, effort and dedication, is without question second to none and this led to a successful settlement

PAT R.

    We can’t thank you enough for the wonderful representation you provided and for believing in our case. It was very vindicating to have a judge and jury decide in our favor.

JANE AND TOM D.

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