DELVENTHAL LAW
Re-aggrivating Previous Injury
After an injury, the body sometimes doesn’t heal completely. Instead, a person still remains vulnerable to re-aggravating a previous injury. Think of someone who has surgery to treat a herniated disc. After another accident, the same disc is reinjured and the pain is made much worse.
Injured workers sometimes face hurdles trying to get compensation for the aggravation of preexisting injuries. An insurer will claim that much of the pain a worker feels really stems from the initial injury, and the amount of compensation a worker can receive will be reduced. Speak to an experienced Fort Wayne attorney today if you have questions about how to make a legal claim, including one for workers’ compensation.
How Does a Pre-existing Injury Affect a Claim for Compensation?
This question requires looking at many different factors. A primary consideration is whether the pre-existing injury is really related to your current injury. For example, you might be suffering a back injury but before you suffered an ACL tear in your knee. These seem to be unrelated injuries, so the pre-existing injury will not affect your claim.
However, if you aggravated a pre-existing injury, then your claim could be reduced. At a minimum, you need to prove how much of your current pain and disability are caused by this current accident and not a prior accident that injured you. This can be tricky.
How Do You Build a Case for Compensation?
Any case begins with a thorough review of your medical history, including your current diagnosis. It might be the case that your current injury is distinct from a prior one, which will help your claim for compensation.
We will also try to establish how much of your current injury is caused by the most recent incident. In addition to medical records, we can rely on witness testimony, including your own testimony. An insurer must give you fair consideration for your claim, and we will ensure that happens.
Must a Worker Disclose a Pre-Existing Injury?
Yes. And if you don’t, you can be sure that the insurance company will find out about it. Failing to disclose this type of information can work against you. However, you should meet with a lawyer to determine what information to reveal.
How Can a Worker Help His or Her Case?
When you meet with a doctor, be as specific as possible about what you are feeling. If you suffered a previous injury, make sure the doctor understands how the pain you are currently feeling is different from the pain you felt then. Repeat this information each time you meet with a doctor.
Speak with Our Fort Wayne Attorneys Today
Cases involving aggravations of pre-existing injuries present unique challenges to obtaining full and fair compensation. Insurers often play hardball and put their team of employees to work scouring your medical history to find a pre-existing injury. They then deny a legitimate claim for compensation.
If you have reinjured yourself, please contact Delventhal Law Office today. We can meet for a free consultation.
The Indiana law that applies to your aggravation of pre-existing condition case
Indiana's two-year personal-injury statute of limitations at IC 34-11-2-4[1] controls every Fort Wayne aggravation claim arising from crashes, falls, and workplace incidents — regardless of any prior orthopedic, neurologic, or chronic-pain history. The 51% modified comparative-fault rule at IC 34-51-2-6[2] bars recovery if a jury finds the injured person more than half at fault. Indiana also follows the eggshell plaintiff rule: a defendant takes the victim as found and is liable for the full aggravation of any pre-existing condition the new injury makes worse.
How insurance carriers fight Fort Wayne aggravation of pre-existing condition claims
Aggravation claims face the most concentrated carrier defense in personal-injury practice because pre-existing records are the carrier's preferred ammunition. First is the symptom-attribution argument — adjusters and defense IMEs cite every prior orthopedic visit, every prior chiropractic note, every prior pain-clinic record as proof the current pain is unchanged from baseline. Second is the radiographic-stability argument: carriers compare pre- and post-incident imaging and claim no objective change, ignoring symptomatic worsening. Third is the eggshell-rule pushback, where defense counsel concedes the law in principle but argues no measurable aggravation occurred. Fourth is the inevitable-progression argument — that the underlying degenerative arc would have produced the same symptoms regardless of the incident. We counter with the eggshell-plaintiff rule, the published natural-history research at National Institutes of Health[3], and meticulous pre-and-post functional documentation.
Evidence we preserve in the first 48 hours
Aggravation cases turn on the contrast between the pre-incident baseline and the post-incident reality. From the moment we open the file we secure:
- Complete pre-incident medical records for the prior decade — primary care, orthopedic, chiropractic, pain management — to establish the asymptomatic-or-stable baseline.
- Pre-incident imaging studies retrieved directly from the imaging facility, not just radiologist reports, so the original films can be compared to post-incident sequences.
- Employer attendance, performance, and work-restriction records showing the client's functional baseline immediately before the incident.
- Treatment-timeline records demonstrating new diagnostic codes, new medications, new restrictions, and new pain-level reports after the incident date.
- A treating-physician causation opinion under Daubert-ready methodology explicitly addressing aggravation versus baseline progression with imaging and clinical correlation.
Damages categories in an Indiana aggravation of pre-existing condition case
Aggravation damages are fully recoverable under Indiana eggshell plaintiff law for everything the new injury makes worse — not the baseline itself, but the delta. Economic damages cover the new MRI imaging, new physical therapy, new injections or surgical intervention triggered by the aggravation, and lost wages tied to the post-incident functional drop. Future damages account for the accelerated treatment trajectory documented in National Institutes of Health[3] research. Non-economic damages cover the new pain, sleep disruption, and life-impact above and beyond the prior chronic baseline.
What our aggravation of pre-existing condition clients ask most
Can I recover if I had a prior back, neck, or joint condition before the crash?
Indiana's eggshell plaintiff rule allows full recovery for the aggravation of any pre-existing condition, regardless of how extensive the prior history. A defendant takes the victim as found. Prior chiropractic visits, prior fusion, prior arthritis, prior chronic-pain treatment — none of it defeats the claim. The pre-incident records establish the baseline against which the new injury is measured.
Will the carrier use my prior medical records against me?
Carriers routinely subpoena, mine, and weaponize prior medical records at deposition and trial. The defense strategy is to portray the post-incident symptom picture as unchanged from baseline. The countermeasure is candid disclosure, meticulous pre-and-post functional comparison, and a treating-physician causation opinion explicitly distinguishing baseline progression from the new aggravation.
What is the eggshell plaintiff rule in Indiana?
The eggshell plaintiff rule states that a defendant is liable for the full extent of harm caused even if the victim was unusually vulnerable due to a pre-existing condition. Indiana applies the rule across personal-injury cases. The defendant cannot escape liability by arguing that a healthy person would have suffered less harm from the same negligent act.
How do you prove aggravation versus just the underlying condition?
Proof requires a precise pre-and-post comparison — pre-incident imaging compared to post-incident imaging, pre-incident pain-scale and functional records compared to post-incident records, and a treating-physician causation opinion under Daubert-ready methodology that explicitly identifies the delta. New diagnostic codes, new medications, and new restrictions after the incident date are critical.
How long do I have to file an aggravation lawsuit in Indiana?
Indiana's general two-year personal-injury statute at IC 34-11-2-4[1] runs from the date of the incident that caused the aggravation, not from the original underlying condition. Workers' compensation requires employer notice within thirty days. Indiana Tort Claims Act notice against a political subdivision is 180 days, and against a state defendant is 270 days.
What happens after you hire us
From the day we open the aggravation file we preserve every pre- and post-incident medical record, retrieve the original imaging studies from each facility, and place all provider records on litigation hold. We notify the carrier that all communications go through this office, coordinate the treating-physician causation opinion under Daubert-ready methodology comparing pre-incident baseline to post-incident reality, and send a settlement demand once you reach maximum medical improvement. Contingency-fee — no fee unless we recover.
