When you suffer personal injury, the medical aspect plays a major role. To assess the severity of the injury, the limitations and recovery, a medical advisor is often engaged. But what exactly does such an advisor do, who does he work for, 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 evaluating medical information in personal injury cases. They translate medical data into legal and insurance contexts.
The medical advisor does not look at liability, but at the medical substantiation of your damage: what medically happened, what are the consequences and to what extent are they permanent?

The medical advisor is an important link between treating doctors, 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 is reported to the insurer;

• when there is doubt about the nature or severity of your injury;

• for long term complaints or permanent limitations;

• or when there is disagreement between doctors or insurers about the diagnosis or causality.

In medical liability cases, the medical advisor also plays a crucial role. He assesses whether the treatment was in accordance with professional standards and whether there can 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 concretely?

The duties of a medical advisor include, among others:

• evaluating the medical file, including general practitioner reports, specialist letters and research results;

• analyzing the cause-effect relationship between the accident and the complaints;

• advising on the moment when the injury is medically stable (the final situation);

• assessing possible permanent limitations or disability;

• advising on additional medical examinations or expertises.

On this basis, the advisor prepares a medical advice report to be used in the settlement of damages.

Independent review

An important point is that there are often two medical advisors in a personal injury case:

• one on behalf of the injured party (victim);

• and one on behalf of the liable insurer.

Both parties rely on the same medical dossier, but they may have different views on it.
When opinions vary, an independent expertise can be carried out by a mutually selected doctor.

What is 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 evaluation of the causal relationship between accident and injury;

• an estimate of the recovery and the remaining limitations.

Based on this report, the personal injury lawyer can better substantiate the amount of your compensation.

How does the medical advisor get your data?

Your medical data is sensitive to privacy and cannot be shared just like that.
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: inspection, copy and correction.

Why is medical advice so important?

The medical advice is the basis for damage calculations.
Without a well medically substantiated report, an insurer can dispute that your complaints are from the accident.
Knowledgeable and independent advice makes the difference between a small and a full compensation.

Moreover, the advice helps in estimating future damage, for example if you can work less because of your injury or persistently have complaints.

How does the collaboration with your lawyer go?

Your personal injury lawyer works closely with the medical advisor. The lawyer uses the advice to determine:

• what damage can be claimed;

• what additional examinations or expertises are needed;

• and when a case can be finalized.

This collaboration creates a strong file 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 don’t have to do this yourself. If you are assisted by Arslan Lawyers, we will take care of the right medical guidance and we will engage the medical advisor on your behalf.
We only collaborate with recognized and independent doctors, who have experience with personal injury cases.

Why Arslan Lawyers?

At Arslan Lawyers we understand how important medical substantiation is in case of personal injury.
Our specialized lawyers work together with expert medical advisors to fully substantiate your case.
We take care of everything for you – from requesting the file to submitting the claim.
Our legal assistance is free, as we recover the costs from the liable party.