Follow Your Doctor’s Advice

Transcript: Hi, I’m Indiana personal injury attorney David Holub and this video discusses why it’s important to follow your doctor’s instructions.

Sometimes we have people come in seeking legal representation that we have found in the past have a history of jumping from doctor to doctor, or we find that sometimes they do not do what their doctor advises them to do, or worse yet, they are getting medicines from one doctor and not telling another doctor that they’re already getting treatment from a first doctor. Not only is this type of conduct dangerous to your health, it can seriously damage your case. Not only does it damage your own credibility as an injury plaintiff, but it will damage your doctor’s credibility when they’re called to testify.

Why am I taking the time to point this out?

Because when a person fails to do exactly what their physician tells them to do, that failure can be used to damage your case and your credibility and your doctor’s credibility.

Suppose a doctor says, “Come back in two weeks so I can check how you’re doing,” and the patient fails to come back within those two weeks. But then later comes back a year later and says to the doctor, “the whole time I was hurting, I was in a lot of pain, but I just never came back because I thought I did better on my own or I just figured there wasn’t anything more you could do for me, but now it’s just gotten so bad, I had to come back to you.” Imagine if you hear that. What would you think about such a patient if you were a physician?

What would you think about such a patient if you were on a jury?

If you want to make a good recovery on your injury claim, you need to do what your doctor tells you to do. If you can’t do what your doctor tells you to do for financial reasons or for reasons such as you’re being afraid of having a surgical procedure, or some other type of procedure that the doctor wants you to do, you need to communicate that to your doctor and you need to be accurate and up front with your doctor.

It’s much better to come back after two weeks and tell the doctor, “I’m still hurting, but I’m going to try to go on my own for several months to see if I just get better.” That makes perfect sense. That makes a good record. It protects you, it protects the doctor. But not communicating with a doctor, or failing to do what the doctor tells you to do, can have dangerous ramifications, not only to your health, but to your case.

If you’re watching this video, you probably have questions about the legal process, or you’re researching information about attorneys for a friend or relative. If you need our help, feel free to give us a call at (219) 736-9700.