Case study: pre-existing Fibromyalgia made worse by Road Traffic Accident

Our specialist Road Traffic Personal Injury team successfully recovered five-figure damages for a client whose pre-existing fibromyalgia was exacerbated following a road traffic accident.

What is Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that causes pain and fatigue. It is thought that around 1 in 20 people may be affected by Fibromyalgia. However, it can be a difficult condition to diagnose and it is not clear how many people are affected.

Other symptoms of the condition include muscle stiffness, sleeping problems, problems with mental processes such as memory and concentration, headaches and irritable bowel syndrome. The cause of the condition unknown. However, in many cases it can be triggered by a stressful event – physical or emotional. This could include a road traffic accident or a fall.

If you have Fibromyalgia, being involved in such an event could also aggravate your condition.

Client’s experience of having Fibromyalgia and being involved in an accident

Our specialist Personal Injury Serious Injury team recently represented a 44-year-old woman who was involved in a road traffic accident. Our client was stationary at a give way sign when the third party vehicle failed to stop and collided with the rear of our client’s vehicle causing her injury. Liability was admitted by the Third Party’s Insurers and therefore our focus in this matter was investigating our client’s injuries thoroughly to ensure she received a fair amount of compensation.

Our client had a history of chronic musculoskeletal pain and had been previously diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. She felt that her condition became worse following the accident. We therefore instructed two medical experts in this case – an orthopaedic and a rheumatology specialist. The reports produced by these experts confirmed that our client suffered a whiplash injury during the road traffic accident which caused an exacerbation of her musculoskeletal pain.

Conclusion of the case

Our team was able to settle our client’s case successfully on the basis of these two reports which demonstrated the impact of these injuries to the Third Party Insurer. Our client was awarded a five-figure sum.

What did our Personal Injury specialist team do for this client?

Our Personal Injury team are experienced in representing people who suffer from Fibromyalgia in road traffic accidents and are able to support and achieve results for them.

Contact our personal injury solicitors

If you’ve suffered losses from a road traffic accident our solicitors can help you secure the justice and compensation you deserve. Get in touch now for a free chat about your claim. Call us free on 0808 501 5532 or find out more information about the personal injury service we provide.