Pre-existing Conditions or Injuries

The law in Florida regarding aggravation of a pre-existing condition is stated very clearly in the Standard Florida Jury Instructions:

“If you find that the defendants caused a bodily injury, and that the injury resulted in an aggravation of an existing disease or physical defect or activation of a latent disease or physical defect, you should attempt to determine what portion of the claimant’s condition resulted from the aggravation or activation. If you can make that determination, then you should award only those damages resulting from the aggravation or activation. However, if you cannot make that determination, or if it cannot be said that the condition would have exited apart from the injury, then you should award damages for the entire condition suffered by claimant”

Virtually every doctor would agree that most adults who have suffered a traumatic incident have one or more pre-existing conditions, such as arthritis and back pain. And most doctors will also agree that a pre-existing condition following a traumatic incident will result in greater injury or disability than otherwise might be expected.