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THE IMPACT OF LAWSUITS ON PATIENT OUTCOMES IN WHIPLASH SYNDROME
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By: Dr Gary Robertson DC
In our litigious society, it is very common that if a person develops neck pain due to a whiplash injury in a personal injury accident some kind of legal action will ensue. We understand that the greater the pain and impairment, the larger the legal settlement might be. The question remains as to whether the potential for financial settlement from a legal action can unconsciously prolong or worsen an injured party's pain. This is referred to as “secondary gain” and it is unconscious, and not to be confused with fraudulent claims of injury.
Accident injury studies have shown that personal injury lawsuits do not negatively affect how a patient recovers from an accident. A 1983 study by Drs. Norris and Watt looked at sixty one patients who had been treated for whiplash injuries, forty one of whom had filed personal injury lawsuits. They found that there was no change in the patients symptoms after their claims were settled. A follow-up study of the same patients ten years later revealed that only twelve percent of them had completely recovered, and forty eight percent suffered from pain that interfered with their normal daily activities.
In 1993, Drs. Parinar and Raymakers performed a study in which they re-evaluated patients they had seen previously for legal opinions, not for treatment, eight years after the initial consultation. They concluded that the litigation had not influenced the speed or amount of recovery.
Yet another group of researchers analyzed patients who were referred for treatment by their attorneys. The patients were treated with strengthening exercises, body mechanics training, medications, spinal injections and occasionally psychotherapy. Most of the patients had a significant improvement in their pain and function.While most patients still had mild pain at the end of treatment, it did not interfere with their daily activities.
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