Chronic pain - Barriers to Recovery
10 December 2019
Chronic Pain – Barriers to Recovery
A quarter of the UK population suffers from chronic pain, which can have a devastating impact on physical and emotional well-being, relationships, ability to look after, hug and even pick up young children and the ability to work.
Chronic pain is very different to nociceptive pain, the body's acute response to inflammation and tissue damage. Chronic pain persists beyond the normal period of time expected for healing and is often resistant to treatment.
At Curtislaw we work with charities such as Burning Nights to assist our clients in dealing with the impact of chronic pain and overcoming the barriers that are thrown up by the Defendants.
Typically, and perhaps topically given our head office is based in Lancashire, a client with chronic pain will be subjected to allegations by the Defendants that would have been appropriate during the 1612 Lancashire Witch Trials.
Rarely will an insurer actually accept that a client with a pain condition is being open and honest.
Insurers do not like chronic pain cases because they are expensive to settle and then ultimately affect the one thing an insurer is interested in, their bottom line.
Pain is a neuropathic condition which can have a negative psychological impact. It is not a psychiatric condition that presents as pain. It is not unheard of for pain to cause a client to take drastic action such as elective amputation or to develop severe psychiatric reaction such as schizophrenia.
An insurer will assert that the injury could not have caused the amount of pain complained of and that the cause cannot be neuropathic but must be something else.
When recently speaking to an expert and discussing a condition suggested by the Defendants, namely Euthyroid Sick Syndrome, the expert said the only way that could have been suggested was after a lengthy google search.
This is typically what a client with chronic pain experiences. Defendants will always say that the injury could not have caused the pain described and ‘sink or swim’ or ‘dunk or float’ the Defendant will still suggest pain cannot be that bad. At least in the Assizes there was a chance of being found to be honest and fair.
We act for many clients with chronic pain. It is difficult at times for clients to understand why the obstacles are put up by the Defendants and why they are always trying to suggest the client is malingering and dishonest. I have never had a chronic pain client who says they enjoy having pain and are lucky to be awarded damages. Every one of them would prefer the gift of hindsight so that they either never went into work that day, stayed at home rather than going out that day or deferred the operation to another day.
We can do our best to make our clients lives a little easier by securing some compensation to assist with care, loss of earnings or the DIY they used to do, but we cannot return our clients to a pain free life.
We will fight the battle for our clients with chronic pain and will try to ensure their rehabilitation and treatment needs are achieved.
The Clinical Negligence and Catastrophic Injury Team at Curtis Law is led by Jerard Knott, Senior Associate Solicitor, an APIL Accredited Senior Litigator and Clinical Negligence Specialist and APIL’s Clinical Negligence Group Coordinator. It also includes Andrew Bell, Director, a Law Society Accredited Personal Injury Panel Member and Solicitor Advocate and Lynne Ainsworth, a Law Society Accredited Clinical Negligence Panel Member. We are committed to promoting Patient Safety and Rehabilitation.
The team only acts for Claimants and is dedicated to providing a client care centered high level of service, providing the best possible advice and maximising damages. The department acts on a large number of fatal (including representation at Inquests) and high value cases. The department regularly advises on cases with valuation exceeding £1,000,000. We can be contacted on 01254 297130 or MedNeg@curtislaw.co.uk.
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