Chronic pain can be significantly detrimental to an individual’s quality of life, often lasting for months or even years. This type of pain can affect your ability to work, maintain relationships, and function on a daily basis. Whether you were involved in a car crash, slip and fall, workplace injury, or some other accident, understanding whether you can be compensated for your chronic pain is important in protecting your rights. For more information and to obtain skilled legal representation, reach out to a Bergen County injury lawyer today.
What is Chronic Pain?
Chronic pain is persistent discomfort and pain that lasts longer than three months or twelve weeks. The pain may be constant or come in waves and often disrupts your life and impacts your mental health.
Common examples of chronic pain include back pain, nerve damage, arthritis, fibromyalgia, migraines, and more. These types of chronic pain often stem from accidents, injuries, illnesses, etc.
Can I Be Compensated for Chronic Pain in NJ?
When it comes to personal injury law, chronic pain could fall under non-economic damages, a category that includes intangible losses that a person suffers, like physical pain, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life. These damages differ from economic damages, which covers quantifiable losses like medical expenses, lost wages, and property damage.
In order for you to be compensated for your chronic pain, it must have originated from an incident that is eligible for a claim or lawsuit and therefore compensation. If your chronic pain stems from any of the following, you may be able to take legal action and recover compensation.
- Car accident
- Slip and fall injury
- Animal attack
- Medical malpractice
- Defective product
The above and more are situations where another individual or entity can be held responsible. If chronic pain is a damage associated with the incident, you could be compensated for your suffering.
How Can I Prove Chronic Pain?
Chronic pain can be challenging to prove and quantify as it is not visible or easily measured. However, there are several important elements that can be assessed to determine whether chronic pain is present and its severity.
Documentation from doctors, specialists, physical therapists, and mental health professionals can be invaluable to your case. These medical records will show the progression and severity of the pain, treatments that have been attempted, how the pain has impacted your life, and more.
Expert testimony can also go a long way to convince a jury or judge that your condition is serious and that the long-term implications warrant compensation. Your own personal testimony is also important. You can keep a journal of how the pain has affected you, limiting your activities and hobbies, interfering with social interactions and work, etc.
If your pain has affected your ability to work, you can also bring records about your work history and income to prove how your pain requires you to work fewer hours, have a reduced earning capacity, and more.
For more information on compensation for chronic pain, reach out to a skilled attorney today.
