What Is My Baltimore Car Accident Case Worth?

What Is My Baltimore Car Accident Case Worth?

As I’ve mentioned in many past blog posts, I treat many patients involved in Baltimore car accidents. After taking a thorough past medical history, evaluating chief complaints, and beginning treatment, one of the questions I am most frequently asked is “what is my Baltimore car accident case worth?” When I first started in practice I had no idea how to answer the question. As a medical provider I did not want to give an opinion on the value of a case. That is, I only treat patients and their symptoms. How could I possibly know?

If you look up case values on the internet, attorneys and insurance companies often list a formula to determine the value of a personal injury case. The formula is something like this:

Past Medical Expenses + Future Medical Expenses + Past Lost Wages + Future Lost Wages + Pain and Suffering = Total case value

Although I’ve been in clinical practice for approximately six years I can say that my answer to this question has not changed much at all. I still tell patients that I do not know the value of their case (in dollars) because it does not concern me. I encourage them to not worry too much about the monetary value of their claim either. The only thing that I can control when a patient is under my care is the treatment that I render on any given visit and in some capacity, how a patient heals.

When the question comes up about case value I like to re-direct the conversation back to the topic of activities of daily living. If you remember, these are activities that we either must do, or enjoy doing that can be made more difficult or impossible as a result of musculoskeletal pain. The question should not be what is the case of my value (in dollars) but rather, what is the value of my life and my daily routine? How valuable is it that I can be the person I was before the car accident and that I can “move on” and not be reminded for the rest of my life of this motor vehicle collision?

How much would you enjoy waking up each day if you woke up with searing back pain? How much would you enjoy going to work if bending to get into your car and sitting caused you numbness down a leg? How much would you miss carrying your newborn child if neck pain and looking down caused you hand numbness? How much would you enjoy reading a book to your child if sitting a chair caused back spasms?

Obviously the “quality of life” questions are endless, but it stands to reason that regardless of the monetary value of your personal injury claim, the quality of life interruption that you may be experiencing is way more important.

To be clear, I understand that money “makes the world go ’round” but it is not the most important thing following a Baltimore auto accident. Without a physical and emotional recovery, all the money in the world can not make you “whole” again.

If you really must know the value of your Baltimore auto accident claim, I would recommend contacting one of the many Baltimore auto accident attorneys that can better answer that question. If, on the other hand, you are concerned about making a complete recovery and resuming your life as quickly as possible with as few complications as possible, please contact Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic. We would be happy to help you feel better and go back to living your life, which is the true “value” of a Baltimore auto accident claim.

Dr. Gulitz