Cervical Spondylosis (or Degenrative Osteoarthritis)
Jenny
Jenny was 24 years old when she was involved in a road traffic accident. She was referred to a Solicitor by her insurance company.
About two months after the accident, her Solicitors obtained a medical report from a general practitioner who diagnosed a "whiplash injury to her neck" and advised that she "should make a full recovery within six months" and that "no treatment is indicated". Based upon this report, her Solicitors advised her to settle the claim and subsequently advised her to accept an offer for her injuries, received from the other party's insurance company, in the sum of £1,500.00.
Jenny was noticing that her symptoms were not improving as suggested by the general practitioner. She asked her Solicitor if she could have a second opinion from another doctor. They advised her that she would have to pay for it and that another doctor would likely agree with the first. Unhappy with the advice she had received, she approached us and we assumed conduct of her claim.
By this stage, Jenny had seen her own doctor who had recommended a course of physiotherapy and we arranged funding for this on a private basis from the other party's insurance company. Unfortunately, the physiotherapy made little difference, if any, to her symptoms which, in fact, seemed to be getting worse.
We referred her for the opinion of a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon. The Orthopaedic Surgeon arranged for x-rays to be taken, and these confirmed a diagnosis of Cervical Spondylosis.
Clearly, Jenny was still a young person and she had no prior history of attending her doctor with neck or any other spinal symptoms. In his report, the Consultant explained that whilst the accident would not have caused the Cervical Spondylosis, in all likelihood the trauma of the accident had " rendered the condition symptomatic ". In other words, although Jenny already had the condition at the time of the accident, it had not advanced to the stage where it was causing her pain and discomfort.
Therefore, the question that we had to ask the Consultant was when, in the absence of the accident, would Jenny's underlying condition have advanced to the stage that it was causing the pain and discomfort that she was now experiencing?
Clearly, this was not an easy question for the Consultant to answer. However, after reviewing the x-rays he responded that in his opinion " in the absence of the subject accident she would not have developed these symptoms for between 10 and 15 years ".
Jenny was largely able to adapt her lifestyle to accommodate her symptoms, such that she was able to continue with most activities, although in some instances she had to modify her approach to them.
In addition to her claim for lost earnings and other out of pocket expenses, we negotiated a settlement for her injuries in the sum of £12,000.