Chronic Pain Syndrome (CPS) is a disorder where psychological factors play an important role in its development. This disorder is often the reason why some accident victims suffer pain and/or discomfort from no obvious physical explanation.
Despite the lack of an apparent cause, the sensation of pain is physical and very real to the sufferer. This condition can be worsened by intrusive and unpleasant memories of the accident. CPS is often associated with back and whiplash injury cases where symptoms are prolonged. If left untreated, it can cause severe distress and long term disability. If symptoms persist beyond six months, it can even possibly be too late for a cure.
Due to the imprecise nature of this illness, this area of personal injury litigation is extremely complex and requires expert understanding and analysis of the medical evidence. Insurance companies are generally suspicious about cases where an expert cannot explain the symptoms of an injury or conclusively attribute them to the accident. In the absence of a perceived ‘orthodox’ explanation, insurers may refuse to accept that symptoms have been caused by the accident at all. As a result, any compensation offered might be substantially less than had the injury been straightforward.
Withy King has assumed conduct of many such cases where medical evidence has not been analysed appropriately. Our clients would otherwise have been forced to settle for a lesser sum than they should have been awarded.
