One of the most common fears injury victims have when they call Marathon Law Group is some version of this: “I had a prior back injury — does that mean I can’t make a claim?” or “The insurance adjuster already mentioned my old medical records. Should I be worried?”
The short answer is no, a pre-existing condition does not disqualify you from recovering compensation in Nevada. But insurance companies will absolutely try to use it against you, and understanding how Nevada law handles this issue — and how to protect yourself — is essential to getting a fair outcome.
The Basic Rule: You Are Entitled to Compensation for What the Accident Made Worse
Nevada law does not require you to be in perfect health before an accident for your injury claim to be valid. What it requires is that the accident caused harm — either by creating a new injury or by aggravating, accelerating, or worsening a condition that already existed.
If a car crash aggravated your pre-existing lumbar disc disease and turned manageable back pain into a condition requiring surgery, you are entitled to compensation for that aggravation. If a slip and fall re-injured a knee that had healed from a prior surgery, you are entitled to compensation for the new harm caused by the fall. The at-fault party takes you as they find you — they don’t get a discount because you were already vulnerable.
The Eggshell Plaintiff Rule in Nevada
This principle has a name in Nevada law: the eggshell plaintiff (or eggshell skull) rule. The idea is straightforward — a defendant who negligently causes harm cannot escape liability simply because the plaintiff was more susceptible to injury than an average person would have been.
Nevada courts apply this rule consistently. If a driver rear-ends someone with severe osteoporosis and that person suffers fractures a healthy person might not have sustained, the driver is liable for the full extent of the harm — not just for what a “normal” person would have suffered in the same crash. The pre-existing vulnerability doesn’t reduce the defendant’s responsibility. It’s their bad luck that they hit someone whose condition made the harm worse; that doesn’t shift the cost back to the victim.
This rule applies to physical conditions, previous injuries, and in some circumstances psychological vulnerabilities as well. If you had a history of anxiety or depression and the accident significantly worsened your mental health condition, that aggravation is part of your recoverable damages.
How Insurance Companies Use Pre-Existing Conditions Against You
While Nevada law protects you, insurance companies have well-developed tactics for turning pre-existing conditions into a weapon against your claim:
Requesting broad medical history access. After an accident, insurers frequently seek authorization to access your complete medical records — not just records related to your current injuries. Their goal is to find any prior mention of pain, treatment, or conditions in the affected body part and argue that your current symptoms are simply the continuation of something that was already there.
The “pre-existing condition” blanket denial. Some adjusters will flatly claim your injuries are attributable to a pre-existing condition and deny liability for any aggravation claim without proper investigation.
Disputing the extent of aggravation. Even where an insurer acknowledges some aggravation, they frequently argue it was minimal and that your symptoms would have progressed to their current state on their own regardless of the accident. This is a causation argument designed to minimize the damages attributed to their client.
Using gaps in your treatment history. If you had prior treatment for a condition and then a period where you were symptom-free or not seeking care, that gap can actually work in your favor — it demonstrates the condition was stable or resolved before the accident worsened it. But insurers sometimes misrepresent these gaps to argue continuity rather than aggravation.
Protecting Your Claim When You Have a Prior Medical History
There are concrete steps you can take to protect the value of your claim when a pre-existing condition is in the picture:
Be honest with your attorney from the start. Your attorney needs to know your full medical history — including prior injuries, conditions, treatments, and surgeries — before the first letter goes to the insurance company. Surprises in your medical records are far more damaging when your attorney hasn’t prepared for them. Full disclosure to your lawyer allows them to frame your claim accurately and proactively.
Be honest with your medical providers. Document clearly with your treating doctors how your symptoms changed after the accident — what was present before, what is new or worse since the crash, and how your daily functioning has been affected. Specific, detailed clinical notes that distinguish pre-accident baseline from post-accident condition are among the most valuable evidence in a pre-existing condition case.
Get appropriate specialist evaluation. A general practitioner’s records are helpful, but specialist evaluations — from an orthopedic surgeon, neurologist, or pain management specialist — that specifically address causation and aggravation carry significantly more weight in establishing the link between the accident and your worsened condition.
Don’t sign blanket medical releases. Insurance companies sometimes ask for authorization to obtain all of your medical records from all providers over an extended period. You are not required to sign a blanket release. Your attorney can help ensure that only relevant records are produced and that the insurer doesn’t go on a fishing expedition through your entire health history.
Document your baseline. If possible, clearly describe to your attorney and doctors what your condition and functioning were like before the accident. Prior medical records can actually help establish this baseline — showing that your pre-accident condition was stable or well-managed — and an attorney can use those records to support rather than undermine your claim.
What Damages Are Available in an Aggravation Claim?
When a Nevada personal injury claim involves a pre-existing condition that was aggravated by the accident, the damages available are focused specifically on what the accident caused. You can recover for the additional medical treatment required because of the aggravation — treatment you would not have needed but for the accident. You can recover for additional lost wages caused by the worsened condition. You can recover for the pain and suffering attributable to the aggravation — the difference between where you were before the accident and where you are now. And if the aggravation has accelerated a deterioration that would have occurred eventually but significantly sooner than expected, Nevada law recognizes that accelerated progression as a compensable harm.
You cannot recover for the underlying pre-existing condition itself. The defendant is responsible for the harm their negligence caused, not for every consequence of a condition they had nothing to do with. Drawing that line clearly — through medical records, expert testimony, and careful documentation — is one of the most important functions your attorney performs in these cases.
Marathon Law Group: Protecting Injury Victims with Complex Medical Histories
We’ve handled hundreds of cases involving pre-existing conditions and we know how to build the medical record, expert support, and legal argument that distinguishes legitimate aggravation claims from the minimization narratives insurance companies push. If you have a prior injury and you’ve been hurt in an accident in Las Vegas or Clark County, don’t assume your history disqualifies you. Call us for a free consultation. We handle personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis — no fees unless we win.
This blog post is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this content does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different. Please consult a licensed Nevada attorney for advice specific to your situation. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.