When trying a significant Maryland car or truck crash case, medical witnesses can make or break the outcome. The insurance industry makes use of highly trained " forensic" medical experts, who testify regularly and are aware of potential pitfalls at trial. Plaintiffs however are captives of whatever doctor they consulted for their injuries.
Sometimes those doctors understand the process and provide testimony that effectively buttresses the relationship between the accident and their treatment regimen but often they are like deer in the headlights when fielding questions from cagey insurance defense lawyers.
Which is why physical therapists can often bolster the trial presentation on behalf of injured victims of car crashes. The fact is that treating doctors see patients a handful of times and defense doctors see them once, long after the collision.
Physical therapists see their patients multiple times and spend hours with them. They know far more intimately how their charges do from visit to visit and often can make useful observations about the impact of injuries on a more granular basis. Most treatment sees both progress and regression and trained medical personnel who see injured parties several times a week can make important points about the pain and inconvenience suffered daily.
Such observations allow jurors and even judges to appreciate what the victim went through and these connections are the underpinnings of obtaining fair compensation. At a minimum conversing with the physical therapist about what they could add is quire valuable.
