As one might expect, injured plaintiffs — in Louisiana and elsewhere — are like any other slice of society, including from a health perspective.  Not all plaintiffs are in perfect health.  In some cases, an injured plaintiff may already have been suffering from peripheral nervous system issues, or neck and back issues, at the time of the accident.

These pre-existing injuries and conditions can have a significant influence on the damages available to a plaintiff in personal injury litigation, but it is not necessarily a barrier to recovery altogether.

Defendants Want to Minimize Their Role

If you’re a first-time plaintiff in a personal injury lawsuit, you may be surprised to find that the defendant begins to aggressively attack your claims on the basis of your pre-existing injuries and conditions.  Fundamentally, the success of any injury claim depends on your ability to prove that the defendant actually caused you to suffer damages — by calling into question whether your injuries resulted from the accident at-issue, the defendant is attempting to rather cleverly avoid liability.

For example, imagine that you have a leg injury from many years ago.  This leg injury is not completely debilitating but does have a negative influence on your ability to engage in physical activities, and on your overall quality of life.

Now, suppose that the defendant is driving a motorcycle and slams into your leg.  You bring an injury claim against the defendant for damages, but the defendant asserts that none of the symptoms of your claimed injury are “new” or “distinct” from the pre-existing injury.  In other words, even if the defendant acted in a negligent manner while riding their motorcycle, they did not actually cause you to suffer damages.

When litigating a personal injury in which the defendant undermines your argument by focusing on the pre-existing injury or condition, it’s important that you show — with the aid of medical record evidence and expert testimony — that the new injury is distinct from the old one, thus making the defendant liable.

Louisiana Allows Recovery for Aggravated Injuries

Not all injury claims involve a new and distinct injury, however.  In the above example, perhaps the leg injury was simply aggravated and permanently exacerbated by the collision.  Fortunately for plaintiffs, Louisiana law gives injury victims the right to sue and recover damages for the aggravation caused by the defendant’s negligent actions.

For example, suppose that your leg injury went from a constant five (out of ten) on the pain scale, to a constant nine (out of ten).  The aggravation of your condition — which may lead to significant deterioration in your quality of life, and ability to work and socialize, among other things — may form the legitimate basis for a damage claim.

As a general rule, relying on the “aggravation” argument is a backup-plan, since it is advantageous from a damage recovery standpoint to claim that the new injury is independent and distinct from the old one.

If you can show that the injury is distinct, then you will be entitled to recover the full range of damages associated with the new injury.  On the other hand, if you rely on an aggravation argument, then you will only be entitled to recover damages for the observable difference between the old injury and the new injury — a pain and suffering damages claim would not be for the full pain and suffering that you actually experience, for example, but for the aggravation of your existing pain and suffering.

If you’ve been involved in an accident that was caused by another’s fault, then you may be entitled to compensation under Louisiana law.  Though a pre-accident injury or condition can complicate the lawsuit, skilled attorneys are capable of demonstrating that your injuries were aggravated, or that some new and distinct injury was suffered.  We encourage you to contact a qualified Louisiana personal injury attorney for assistance.