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Often when one is injured in a car wreck or slip and fall, the value of the injured person’s claim is dependent upon the pain experienced. Pain and suffering is an element of recovery. Thus the greater the pain and the longer the duration, the more the injured person should be compensated. Whether negotiating settlement or arguing to a jury, the distinction between acute pain and chronic pain almost always comes into play.
Acute pain begins suddenly and in the context of a personal injury case, is generally not questioned by the insurance industry unless there is a significant delay between the triggering event and the onset of the pain. Acute pain might be mild and last just a moment, or it might be severe and last for weeks or months. In most cases, acute pain disappears when the underlying cause of pain has been treated or has healed. Unrelieved acute pain, however, might lead to chronic pain.
On the other hand, chronic pain persists despite the fact that the injury has healed and may last months or years. While it is not difficult to attribute acute pain to a sudden injury, chronic pain is more difficult because it can be the result of either an acute injury or degenerative conditions such as the normal wear and tear of daily life. Arthritis is a common example. Often a person may have degenerative conditions without knowing it. However, a whiplash injury or some other acute injury will trigger the pain that simply doesn’t go away. The insurance industry will point to the pre-existing degenerative condition and relate the chronic pain to that condition to avoid payment for that portion of the claim. It is imperative to determine whether the pain would have existed in the absence of the acute injury. If not, then the insurance company’s argument must fail. It is not the existence of a pre-existing degenerative condition that determines the value of the pain. Rather it is the existence of the pain itself and whether it would have existed absent the injury.
Chronic pain can have a significant debilitating impact on the victim of a personal injury such as, limited mobility, a lack of energy, and changes in appetite. Chronic pain can also have emotional effects including depression, anger, anxiety, and fear of re-injury. Such a fear might hamper a person’s ability to drive a car, or return to normal leisure activities.
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