When you suffer personal injury, the medical aspect plays a major role. To properly assess the severity of the injury, the limitations, and the recovery, a medical advisor is often engaged. But what exactly does such an advisor do, for whom do they work, and what does this mean for your case? In this blog, we explain it step by step.
What is a medical advisor?
A medical advisor is a doctor who specializes in assessing medical information in personal injury cases. He or she translates medical data into a legal and insurance law context.
The medical advisor does not look at liability, but at the medical substantiation of your damages: what happened medically, what are the consequences, and to what extent are they permanent?
The medical advisor thus forms an important link between the treating physicians, the personal injury lawyer, and the insurer.
When is a medical advisor engaged?
A medical advisor is often involved at an early stage, for example:
as soon as your personal injury has been reported to the insurer;
when there is doubt about the nature or severity of your injury;
in cases of long-term complaints or permanent limitations;
or when a dispute arises between doctors or insurers about the diagnosis or causality.
In medical liability cases as well, the medical advisor plays a crucial role. They then assess whether the treatment was carried out in accordance with the professional standard and whether there may be a medical error.
Read more about this in our blog Medical error or complication: what is the difference and when is the doctor liable?
What does a medical advisor do in practice?
The tasks of a medical advisor include:
assessing the medical file, including GP reports, specialist letters, and examination results;
analyzing the cause-and-effect relationship between the accident and the complaints;
advising on the moment when the injury is "medically stable" (the final situation);
assessing any permanent limitations or disability;
advising on additional medical examinations or expert reports.
Based on this, the advisor prepares a medical advisory report, which is used in determining the compensation.
Independent assessment
An important point is that in a personal injury case there are often two medical advisors:
one on behalf of the injured party (victim);
and one on behalf of the liable insurer.
Both parties base their assessment on the same medical file, but may judge it differently.
When opinions diverge, an independent expert examination can be conducted by a jointly chosen doctor.
What is included in the medical advice?
A medical advice usually contains:
a summary of your medical history;
a description of the accident and the injury;
an analysis of the complaints, treatments, and recovery;
an assessment of the causal connection between the accident and the injury;
an estimate of the recovery and permanent limitations.
Based on this report, the personal injury lawyer can better substantiate the amount of your compensation.
How does the medical advisor obtain your data?
Your medical data is privacy-sensitive and may not simply be shared.
Therefore, written consent is always requested before your file is sent to a medical advisor.
You decide which data is provided.
Read more about requesting medical information in our blog Medical file: access, copy, and correction.
Why is a medical advice so important?
The medical advice forms the basis for the damage calculation.
Without a well-substantiated medical report, an insurer can dispute that your complaints are caused by the accident.
An expert and independent advice makes the difference between a low and a full compensation.
Moreover, the advice helps in estimating future damages, for example if you can work less or have permanent complaints due to your injury.
How does the collaboration with your lawyer work?
Your personal injury lawyer works closely with the medical advisor. The lawyer uses the advice to determine:
which damage items can be recovered;
which additional examinations or expert reports are needed;
and when a case can be concluded.
Through this collaboration, a strong file is created that is well substantiated both medically and legally.
Read more about this in our blog How does the personal injury process work?.
When do you engage a medical advisor?
You do not need to do this yourself. If you are represented by Arslan Advocaten, we arrange the proper medical guidance and engage the medical advisor on your behalf.
We work exclusively with recognized and independent doctors who have experience with personal injury cases.
Why Arslan Advocaten?
At Arslan Advocaten, we understand how important medical substantiation is in personal injury cases.
Our specialized lawyers work together with expert medical advisors to fully substantiate your case.
We arrange everything for you — from requesting the file to filing the claim.
Our legal assistance is free of charge, because we recover the costs from the liable party.