Ms. M was in a car accident in Gwinnett County. The wreck totaled her car and caused herniated discs in both her neck and back. She required months of chiropractic treatment, physical therapy, epidurals, trigger point injections, and radiofrequency ablations. Ms. M tried to resolve the case without filing a lawsuit, but GEICO’s first settlement offer was less than Ms. M’s medical bills, which were over $100,000. Athens Car Accident Lawyer, Michael Ruppersburg, filed a lawsuit and secured a $250,000 policy limits settlement before the case went to trial.
The Accident
Ms. M was driving on Buford Drive / State Route 20 in Gwinnett County. Another driver was coming the opposite direction and was waiting to make a left turn. The other driver thought she had enough time to make the turn but didn’t. Ms. M braked and tried to avoid the collision but couldn’t. She crashed into the other driver’s car. The force of the wreck spun her car around and pushed her into another car, damaging it too. Here’s what Ms. M’s car looked like after the wreck:
The police investigated and found the other driver at fault for failure to yield while turning left.
The Injuries
Ms. M was in shock after the wreck and didn’t think she was hurt. However, when the shock wore off later that day the pain set in. She went to an urgent care facility that advised her to go to the emergency room. She then went to the emergency room where doctors ordered X-rays to check for broken bones. The emergency room diagnosed her with strains and sprains of her neck and back, prescribed her pain medication, and recommended that she follow up with a doctor.
Ms. M hoped she would get better without treatment, but unfortunately didn’t. After a week with no improvement, she went to a chiropractor, who diagnosed her with strains and sprains of her neck and back. She saw the chiropractor for several weeks but didn’t get any better. Her neck pain actually started radiating down into her arms and hands, which is a sign of a herniated disc. The chiropractor then referred her to an orthopedist, which is a doctor that specializes in injuries to the neck and back. The orthopedist ordered an MRI of her neck, and it showed herniated discs at C3-4, C4-5, C5-6, and C6-7, which were pushing into her spinal cord and likely causing the neck pain that she was having. It can sometimes be difficult to tell whether a car accident caused herniated discs or aggravated herniated discs that were already there. However, Ms. M was only 23 years old at the time of the wreck and hadn’t had any other accidents or injuries or neck or back pain. Given that, the wreck likely caused the disc herniations in her neck.
The orthopedist recommended that Ms. M begin physical therapy, which she did. However, her low back pain got worse, and the doctor ordered an MRI of her lower back. It showed a herniated disc at L4-5, which was also likely caused by the car accident.
Over the next year, the orthopedist tried multiple treatments to help with Ms. M’s neck and back pain. The doctor first tried trigger point injections, where the doctor injects an anesthetic and steroid into painful muscles to cause them to relax and help with the pain. The doctor then tried epidural steroid injections, where the doctor injects anesthetic and a steroid into the epidural space of the spine to try to calm down the spinal cord nerves that are causing neck and back pain. The doctor then tried radiofrequency ablations, which is where the doctor inserts a special needle into the neck or back and it then uses radiofrequency to burn away the nerves that are causing pain. With these treatments and months of physical therapy, Ms. M’s pain slowly got better.
Lawsuit & Settlement
Ms. M wanted to resolve her case without a lawsuit. Before filing the lawsuit, we sent a settlement demand to GEICO but GEICO offered only $86,000, which was less than her medical bills. We then filed a lawsuit and prepared the case for trial and were able to secure a $250,000 settlement, which was the other driver’s insurance policy limits. We’re glad to have helped Ms. M and wish her well in her continued recovery.
Contact Us
If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident, do not hesitate to reach out to Ruppersburg Injury & Accident Lawyer. Contact us today!