A New Test Could Help Oklahoma Rear-End Accident Sufferers Get Whiplash Compensation
Rear-end crashes are one of the most common crash types in Oklahoma City, Edmond, Nichols Hill and Guthrie. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as many as 30 percent of annual motor vehicle accidents are rear-end accidents.
Rear-end accidents also cause around 3.5 percent of deadly motorcycle accidents according to the Los Angeles Times.
A rear-end accident lawyer knows many different kinds of injuries happen in rear-end crashes. However, one of the most common is whiplash.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, whiplash and other neck injuries account for around 25 percent of total payouts for motor vehicle accident injuries. More than $8.8 billion is spent annually treating patients who have suffered injury to their neck or back in collisions.
Unfortunately, because whiplash can be difficult to diagnose, sometimes it is tough for crash victims to get insurance companies to provide compensation necessary to cover whiplash treatment.
Now, scientists say a new test could resolve this issue. The test could also reportedly make it easier to provide effective treatment to people who have sustained whiplash injuries.
New Test Could Provide Home for Whiplash Patients
According to a new study that appears in the journal Spine, researchers from Northwestern Medicine have found a way to detect when whiplash injuries will lead to chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder and lasting disability.
The researchers discovered that when an MRI is conducted within one to two weeks after a motor vehicle accident, there was a large amount of fat in neck muscles of certain whiplash patients. When the same test was performed between one and three months after the original motor vehicle accident had happened, some of the patients still had these elevated fat amounts in their neck muscles.
The patients who had the elevated amount of fat in the muscles of the neck went on to suffer from post-injury complications associated with chronic and disabling whiplash. These patients developed chronic pain and became disabled, while those who had not displayed elevated levels of fat were more likely to recover.
An MRI is not a standard diagnostic test for whiplash patients. However, the researchers believe these results could be promising in achieving a more effective diagnosis. If patients are given an MRI and the elevated amounts of fat show up, this can indicate they are likely to have future problems and should begin more intensive therapy right away (including therapy for PTSD).
The results of the MRI could also be used to demonstrate to insurance companies that a patient has sustained legitimate injuries and thus is entitled to compensation for these losses that the motor vehicle crash caused.
Accident attorneys in Oklahoma City, Edmond, Nichols Hill and Guthrie can help injured victims. Contact the Dan Davis Law Firm at 1-800-Hurtline or visit Dan Davis Law to schedule your free consultation.
