Accident Victims: Be Leary of Trolling Chiropractors
We live in a world of opportunity. Some people take the misfortune of others and turn it into an opportunity for help and benefit all involved. Others take that same opportunity and use it only for personal gain knowing full well the continued damage and destruction that it causes to another person’s life. You can find it in all industries including our own.
Why your car accident claim could be impacted due to chiropractic treatment
I recently read a story about a lawyer who had to tell his client that his case was practically worthless because he went to a chiropractor that telemarketed him to come to his clinic within days of the car wreck. Just like the law is for lawyers, in Tennessee, it is unethical for chiropractors or their agents to call up people hurt in car wrecks to solicit their business until 30 days has passed. Therefore, the insurance company denied paying for the victim’s chiropractic bill because the chiropractor’s obtained the client “unethically” and illegally. Even though it wasn’t the injury victims fault, he was being punished. This is not the case with every clinic. There are plenty of chiropractic and spine-health specialists in Tennessee running legitimate businesses and are obtaining clients “ethically” under the law. However, it is still extremely difficult to get the insurance company to honor the treatment of these chiropractors (even with the referral from a hospital, primary care physician or specialist). We do not say this to diminish the good work chiropractors do in the way of offering healing and relief with reputable and consistent treatment. We say this to inform you of the way it works in the field of personal injury.
Chiropractic treatment and insurance claims
Similar to many health insurance companies not covering chiropractic care, most auto insurance companies still do not generally honor chiropractic treatment for a bodily injury claim…at least not without a fight. In order to more effectively evidence your injuries to an insurance company, it is better to have definitive medical reports provided by a medical doctor/specialist or emergency room which provides a diagnosis and treatment plan for your injuries.
What happens with those chiropractor bills?
We’ve fought very difficult cases in which the client refused to consistently see a medical doctor for treatment. Instead, the client saw a chiropractor for months following their serious car wreck. The insurance company denied all of the care from the chiropractor. We have made sizeable recoveries for the clients based upon the injuries and the care they did receive from their primary care physicians immediately following the wreck. What was even worse, in at least one case the chiropractor charged as much as he wanted for his services and then couldn’t provide a detailed itemization of why the client had been charged such a high amount. It breaks our heart to see that happen or to see one dollar of the client’s recovery go to a provider that can’t show ‘just cause’ for his charges to our client.
Just because it works doesn’t mean its a compensable form of treatment
Chiropractic work, homeopathic and natural medicine are all making a buzz in the world of health and healing. But these methods of treatment still have a long way to go before being recognized as compensable forms of treatment by insurance companies. If you have been injured in a wreck, go to a hospital and make every attempt to follow the doctor’s orders and prescribed follow-up care. Call us as soon as possible after being injured so we can help guide you through the process.
If you have questions about treating your injuries after an accident, give our Nashville & Knoxville accident lawyers a call!
Taking the right steps to get the help you need and documenting your injury will go a long way in giving our team leverage when it’s time to fight for the maximum compensation for your injuries. Have more questions about what you should do next? We fight for you, 615-425-2500. We have represented accident victims in Franklin, Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville & throughout the state of Tennessee.