A client of mine was in a car accident. The other car crossed over the double yellow lines and hit her head on. She hurt her shoulder and her hand but discounted the hand as the x-ray showed arthritis. She is a PA and made that determination on her own.
In reality, her hand was hurt when her airbag deployed.
In NY, if you have an underlying or previous condition, the person that hurts you is responsible for the changes to that condition even if that condition pre-disposes you to more of an injury than someone else. This is known as the “eggshell skull” theory.
My client’s doctor connected the hand injury to the accident. She may have had some arthritis but her hand was fine before the accident. Ultimately my client needed two hand surgeries and a skin graft and was never going to return to pre-accident status.
I settled this Suffolk County case for $900,000.00, much to the delight of my client.