19 months stuck in my bed like a prison because car accident caused
aggrivation of pre-existing illnesses plus unable to sit for 19 months
from back injury caused by same.  Depression, pain to die from,
$25,000 in medical expenses so far.  I was disabled with CFS and Fibro
before MVA but was able to be somewhat active.  I could go to grocery
store when needed, swimming, shopping, etc.  After MVA, forced to lie
on my side in horrible pain, sweating and shaking and so weak my 10
year old had to get me food and water, and take over grocery and
laundry duty. Back injury so painful had to lie down for 19 months to
eat, watch TV, write, etc.  Before MVA I went to doctor 1 time per
month.  After, I go to doctor 3 to 5 times per week
for 19 months so far.  I was REALLY injured and made SO much sicker by
this accident.  All soft tissue and illness.  Aggrivation even caused
me to have no brain unless I get a magnesium IV every week.  Doctors
do not know how long this will have to go on.  For life? I did not
need magnesium to have a brain before the MVA. It was not my fault.  I
am having a lot of trouble finding a lawyer to represent me because
the case is time consuming and complicated.  I might do better to
settle on my own.  I am having a lot of trouble researching on the net
to find similair case law.  It would help if I could find others who
have already been through this and what they did.  How can you help?? 
There are a lot of questions here.  can you find previous case law for
CFS and FMS post traumatic proof?  Can you find scientific studies
that prove that extreme FMS causes the brain to malfuntion and deplete
magnesium so that weekly IV is needed?  How can I find out if better
to settle without a lawyer so there is more $ for med. bills or if I
have to have a lawyer who will take up all the money and leave none
for me? These 3 questions are first.  More later.

---

Request for Question Clarification by wlk115-ga on 22 Jun 2002 08:10 PDT

Where are you located? 

It has been my experience that, if you settle without legal help you
will get taken every time. The insurance companies have big legal
budgets and their attorneys definitely do not have your best interest
in mind when they write up a settlement.

---

Clarification of Question by freedoms-ga on 24 Jun 2002 16:02 PDT

Hi.   Thanks for your interest in helping me with my question.  To
Clarify, I am located in Tempe, Arizona.  This is a suburb of Phoenix.
I am doing my own research because I have been turned down by about 30
attorneys because lack of scientific data prooving that Fibromyalgia
and CFIDS, (Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Syndrome, also caled
myalgic encephlomylitis, spelling may be wrong) can be made worse by
physical trauma from a car accident seems to be hard to find.  I have
spent 20 dark and miserable months in bed or at doc or therapy
appintments because fo the MVA.  $25,000 in medical bills plus $20,000
to $30,000 to prove the case (according to the attorneys I have talked
with) plus $33,000 for attorny only leaves me $12,000 to 22,000) for
pain and suffering for losing all but my very life for 20 months - if
I am lucky enough to win the whole amount.   Plus I have this serious
brain problem brought on by the worsening of my illnesses forcing me
to get magnesium IVs weekly for perhaps the rest of my life at $65
each in order for me to have enough brain to write my name and address
on a form.  I did not need magnesium to have a brain before the MVA. 
Photos of the car do not have enough damage to convince an
unkowledgable jury or the uncaring Ins. Co.  Car repair dealer fixed
things on car for free to Ins. Co. to make it look like there was less
damage to the car.

The attorneys I have talked with do not want to take my case because
there are so many easier, more cost effective ones that do not require
as much work out there.  They want broken legs and easy to prove
cases, not pre-existing illnesses that were made so much worse I am
now in a whole new class of illness and my be for the rest of my life
because of the car accident.  I need my medical bills paid for. 
Medicare does not pay for the only treatment that gives me back my
brain.  Without it, I am a vegetable.  I need help researching things
like case histories of people who were in similar situations and what
they did about it.  any one who knows an attorney in my area who
actually does thrive on cases like this would be great.  I have not
found one.   I ned help finding clinical studies prooving that body
trauma can cause a terrible FMS flare up that worsens a persons
symptoms gravely.  there are still so few studies on CFS that more
than 1/2 of the doctors still do not believe it.  The CDC does and I
have disability for it.  There are close to 4 million of us in the US
with CFS.  Thanks for any help you can give.

Lawyers do not refuse cases because they are complicated and time
consuming. Any lawyer worth his or her salt thrives on such cases.
Lawyers refuse cases because the cases are unwinnable to the extent
that the attorney cannot achieve what the injured party wants, recover
what the injured party wants in terms of money or simply because the
facts do not support a law suit. If you were injured in a auto
accident to the extent that the insurance company wants to negotiate
w/ you I do not believe that you cannot find a competent attorney to
represent you. You will have to pay about 1/3 of your recovery but
that should be offset by the increased settlement you should receive
by using an attorney. DO NOT try and represent yourself. The insurance
companies are not your friends, will not look out for your interests,
and do not care about you and your problems. Their only concern is
their bottom line and paying little or no money to settle your case.
Also do not try to research your case on your own. Legal research is
best left to those familar w/ the ins and outs, not necessarily an
attorney but someone familar w/ the process and how to ferret out
applicable case law. Keep looking for an attorney. If you have a good
case you will find a good lawyer.

Hi Freedoms,

To help with your research, here are a few links I had bookmarked. 
This is indeed a frustratingly complicated illness.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/cfs/index.htm
http://www.co-cure.org/chiari.htm
http://www2.rpa.net/~lrandallhttp://fmaware.org

And here is the main Pub Med reference page.  Take the tutorial on
navigating this site, then enter "fibromyalgia" and "chronic fatigue
syndrome" in the search box.  There are thousands of journal articles
that could be relevant to your case. 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=Display&DB=PubMed

Good luck,
V

Oops, let's try those links again.

http://www2.rpa.net/~lrandall
http://fmaware.org

There is a disability forum dealing specifically with fibromyalgia and
related ilnesses at www.fibrohugs.com the lawyer, Jeff Rabin
volunteers his time helping persons with fibromyalgia etc file for
disability. I'm sure if you posted or contacted him by email, he could
suggest a course of action for you as he has much experience in this
area.

Disability forum - Fibromyalgia
http://fibrohugsforums.mysitemain.com/cgi-bin/webbbs/law_us/index.pl?

The site is a great place for fibro support and information.

As a fellow fibro-sufferer, I hope you find the help you need.
DuckyMB

Dear PHUD-GA,  thank you for your interest.  I have contacted at least
30 attornys.  None of them thrive on hard cases.  They all want the
cost effective ones.  There is only a little research done on FMS and
CFS so far.  It does not make them any less real, Just harder to find.
Research has estimated that a person who is really disabled with CFS
is as sick as a person with AIDS who is about 2 months from the end. 
For 15 months folowing the MVA, I was unable to even make phone calls,
I was made so sick.  What I am looking for is research that prooves my
illnesses exsists scientifically, and other people who have gone
through the same extreme worsening of symptoms caused by a car
accident or other physical trauma and what they did about it.  Because
of the MVA, I am forced to spend my life in my bed alone, all day and
all night for 20 months now, send my 12 year old to the store when we
need grocerys, have my son get me food and water, I am unable to wash
the laundry, or move the hose around outside.  Where are all these
wonderful attorneys?  I am loking at $180 worth of magnesium Ivs for
the rest of my life in order to have enough brain to listen to my
child talk to me because of this accident.  How do I pay for this with
the money I get on disability.  Just because my case is hard to proove
doesn't mean I am not right.  I have to do my best, even if I am on my
own.

Here's an abstract of a case–control study examining the role of
physical trauma in the onset of fibromyalgia syndrome.  The conclusion
of the study is that "Physical trauma in the preceding 6 months is
significantly associated with the onset of FMS."   The abstract also
lists the person to contact about this: Correspondence to: A. W.
Al-Allaf, University Department of Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and
Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 9SY, UK.

While this study refers to the relation between physical trauma and
the onset of fibromyalgia, it at least draws the correlation.  Not
only that, but there may be more information available by contacting
the folks who did the study.

< http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/id/3508 >

Hope this helps!  Good luck

Hello. I got the information today, that there also is another person
in the world that struggles to find out answers on how a car accident
can make all the symptoms on CFS or Myalgi Encefalopati extreemely
worser. I am from Norway, and the first ME patient in this country
that suffers from headingery after carcrash. This accident (where I
was a passenger) was in Dec.-03. Now recently I`ve started to manige
to drive car again on my own, the days I am really rested. Before
this, I was in coma. And after recover from this, there was to say it
in clean words: A really Hell for me and my family. I could no longer
take care for my 9-year old daughter from a earlyer marriage. So I
lost the daily custidy. Could not leave the house, have visits, cope
with reading/tv, or do anything of those things I could before the
accident. Over my doctor I maniged to get a cleaning assistent of
house one time per week. My husband who was the driver in the accident
(where a drunk guy speeding crashed into our car)had broken his leg in
two places. He jumped around and had to take care for much. Now we are
both doing better. But Im still not fully recovered to get the daily
custidy of my daughter back. Our lawyer also have no information about
how a CFS patient gets worser from an accident. Actually you are the
first person in whole world we now know about, eccept from me.

If you`d like to talk one day, my phonenumber is 0047 62415812 or 0047 97753334
Wish you the best for future.
Wih best regards from Lill-Tove Grieger.