North Carolina Jury Returns Low Verdict For Neck Injury
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A Dobson County jury returned a verdict of $45,000.00 in favor of a victim of a rear-end collision who sustained a neck injury.
As a result of neck injury which was caused by the collision the claimant’s doctors recommended a cervical fusion of the neck. The surgical fusion would have involved joining together the C5-C6 cervical discs so that there would be no movement between the two discs. Both an orthopedic spine specialist and a neurosurgeon recommended this surgery.
The claimant declined to have surgery and also refused to have epidural injections because of her fear of needles.
The defendant’s fault in causing the collision was clear.
The insurance company defended the case however based upon its contention that the high-speed rear-end collision did not cause the injury to the claimant’s neck.
Of course, this is a ridiculous position for the insurance company to take. However, it is the usual practice of insurance companies to deny that a wreck victim is hurt as badly as the doctors say. Sometimes, insurance companies deny that the claimant is hurt at all.
In cases involving injuries to the neck and back the insurance companies almost always claim that the victim has a pre-existing degenerative disc disease. Virtually everyone above 30 has degenerative disc disease. It is not a horrible unusual debilitating disease; instead it is simply a part of the aging process wherein the bones in the back wear down to a certain extent. This condition is worse in some people than in others.
However, degenerative disc disease usually does not result in any pain or discomfort or disability. Almost everyone has this condition but most people do not realize it. The condition only becomes symptomatic (that is, it results in pain and discomfort) when there has been a traumatic event such as a motor vehicle collision.
In this case however, the impact of the collision caused spondylosis as well as the aggravation of the pre-existing degenerative disc disease. Prior to this collision, the claimant’s degenerative disc disease did not cause any pain or discomfort and was totally asymptomatic (no symptoms).
Nevertheless, the defendant attempted to make a big issue of the pre-existing condition.
Apparently, this ploy on the part of the insurance company worked because the verdict was extremely low for this type of injury.
The jury verdict included $9,000.00 for pain and suffering, $6,000.00 for past medical expenses and $30,000.00 for future medical expenses.
The testimony was that the cost of the surgery would be $30,000.00.
The results in this case is very typical and it shows how effective it is for insurance companies to use a normal condition such as a pre-existing degenerative disc disease, to deny deserving claimants the full amount of benefits to which they are entitled.
It is an unfortunate that jurors are many times swayed by this specious argument.