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Medical Expenses Recoverable in Personal Injury Cases

In Louisiana, a personal injury victim may recover past and future medical expenses caused by the conduct of a wrongdoer. See Caskey v. Merrick Construction Co., Inc., et. al., 46,886 (La. App. 2 Cir. 03/14/12) 86 So. 3d 186. This means if you are injured in an accident, you are entitled to all of your resulting medical expenses from the person or entity that caused the accident. Past medical expenses are medical bills that you received for treatment after the accident through the date of trial or settlement. Future medical expenses are treatment costs that you will incur in the months and years after trial or settlement.

You must prove that your medical expenses (bills) after the accident were for treatment that was more likely than not related to the accident. Thus, you can only recover for medical treatment that was related to the accident. The medical treatment and costs must be reasonable as well. This typically means that the treatment and its costs are standard for people with similar injuries.

If you want to also recover for future medical expenses you must prove that you will more likely than not need future care and identify what future care you will need. See Daigle v. City of Shreveport, 46,429 (La. App. 2 Cir. 10/05/11), 78 So. 3d 753. This requires that doctors give opinion testimony explaining the types of medical treatment you will need in the future. The doctors will have to also testify that you will likely need the predicted care due to the earlier accident. You will also need to prove with competent medical evidence the costs of future care. The cost of future care must be reasonable, which means customary. The best way to prove future medical costs is to retain an expert qualified to author medical cost projection reports and give that testimony in court.

It is also a good idea to seek medical treatment soon after an accident to establish a continuity of care.

If you have suffered injury from an accident and have questions about recoverable damages, contact Law Office of Donald D’Aunoy Jr., LLC today for a FREE consultation. Mr. D’Aunoy is well reviewed on sites such as Avvo and Facebook. Call today.

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