How To Prove Future Pain And Suffering In Personal Injury Cases

One type of compensation available in personal injury cases, such as car accident claims, is future pain and suffering. Future pain and suffering refers to bodily pain and discomfort from injuries that’ll continue after the case’s trial has concluded. Future pain and suffering’s sought when the victim has permanent or long-term injuries causing symptoms that haven’t resolved by the time of trial. Let’s review the different methods for proving future physical pain and suffering.

The victim must prove that future pain and suffering is reasonably likely to occur. That includes evidence that the victim has a permanent injury or an injury that’s likely to continue for an indefinite time into the future. A claim for future pain and suffering can’t be based on speculation or hypotheticals. Future pain and suffering damages won’t be allowed if it’s not clear whether the victim will have such issues in the future.

A common method for proving future pain and suffering is through medical testimony that the victim has a permanent or long-term injury that’ll cause ongoing pain and suffering. That evidence can come through the victim’s treating healthcare providers. Or an independent medical expert can be hired to provide such testimony.

Although medical testimony to support future pain and suffering is a good idea, it’s not always required. Future pain and suffering can sometimes be inferred from the nature of the injury alone, for example, x-rays showing a fractured spine. If the victim hasn’t fully recovered at the time of trial and continues to experience pain, that may be enough to prove the likelihood of future physical pain and suffering without supporting medical testimony. Such evidence may come through the testimony of the victim and testimony from the victim’s family members, friends, and co-workers.

Generally, the best practice is to use both types of evidence to compliment each other. Medical testimony can establish the likelihood of a permanent or long-term injury and future pain and suffering caused by that injury. The victim and the victim’s witnesses can also testify to support the claim of a permanent or long-term injury and future pain and suffering.

Careful planning is required for a claim of future pain and suffering. Courts take a much harder look at future pain and suffering allegations because such claims seek compensation for future events that haven’t occurred yet and will always involve some elements of guesswork. And insurance companies and the defense lawyers that they hire strenuously contest claims for future pain and suffering.

Consequently, the efforts to build an argument for future pain and suffering must begin early in a case to ensure that the claim’s properly developed. That starts with timely, consistent, and documented medical treatment that demonstrates the victim’s complaints about a certain injury and how that injury’s symtoms and treatment progressed over time. That treatment should be by the same healthcare providers so that they can later testify that, based on the course of treatment and the passage of time, the injury’s likely permanent or long-term and is likely to cause ongoing pain and suffering into the future. Or those same records can be reviewed by an independent medical expert to reach the same conclusions.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can assist you with a personal injury claim.