Can I sue if I had a pre-existing injury in New York?

Direct answer

Yes. New York follows the eggshell plaintiff rule: defendants take their victims as they find them. If the accident aggravated a pre-existing condition, you can recover for the aggravation, even if you would not have been injured to that degree without the prior condition. Medical proof distinguishing old from new is critical.

In more detail

This is one of the most common worries clients raise on the first call. They had a bad back from a slip ten years ago, or a herniated disc from college, or arthritis their orthopedist mentioned, and they assume the at-fault driver gets a free pass because their body was already damaged. New York law specifically rejects that argument.

Under the eggshell plaintiff doctrine, codified into the New York Pattern Jury Instructions at PJI 2:283, a defendant is liable for the full extent of the harm actually caused, even if a pre-existing condition made the plaintiff more susceptible to injury. The classic example is the man with a thin skull who suffers a fatal blow from what would have been a minor injury to anyone else. The defendant cannot argue "his skull was abnormal." The doctrine applies the same way to bad backs, prior fractures, degenerative discs, and arthritis.

What you do not get compensated for is the underlying condition itself. You get compensated for how the accident worsened it. The legal mechanism is called aggravation of a pre-existing condition. The new pain. The new surgery. The accelerated degeneration. The new restrictions. The lost function attributable specifically to the crash.

Proof is the entire ballgame. The defense will hire a medical expert to testify that everything you are complaining about was already there. To beat that, your team needs three categories of evidence:

Pre-accident medical records as a baseline. What did the imaging look like before? What were your reported symptoms? Were you working full-time, lifting, walking, sleeping normally? Records from primary care visits, prior orthopedist visits, and any prior imaging build the "before" picture.
Post-accident imaging and clinical findings. New MRI showing a herniation that was not on the prior film. New positive orthopedic tests. Surgical reports describing what the surgeon actually saw. The "after" picture must be objectively documented, not just self-reported.
Expert testimony explaining what changed and why. A treating orthopedist or neurologist, sometimes a retained expert, who can review both timelines and explain to the jury that the accident is what tipped the dormant condition into active disability.

For auto cases, the serious-injury threshold under NY Insurance Law § 5102(d) still applies. A clear aggravation can satisfy categories like "significant limitation of use" or the 90/180-day inability to perform usual activities. The defense will argue the limitation existed before; your treating doctor needs to be ready to explain why it is worse now.

The single biggest mistake I see clients make is hiding prior injuries from their lawyer. The defense will get every prior medical record in discovery. If the first time I learn about the 2019 disc injury is at deposition, the case is in trouble. Honest disclosure on day one is what lets us build the aggravation argument properly.

What I see in NYC cases

I won an aggravation case for a Queens client with documented prior back issues who was rear-ended on the BQE. The defense led with "she had a herniated L5-S1 long before this." We countered with three years of pre-accident records showing she was working full-time, lifting kids, no medication. Post-accident: surgery, fusion, permanent restrictions, lost her job. Her treating spine surgeon laid out the timeline at deposition. The case settled for full policy limits.

The aggravation argument is won by the medicine, not by argument. When the prior records show a stable baseline and the post-accident records show clear deterioration, the defense narrative falls apart on its own. I always tell clients to give me the full medical history at intake, including the embarrassing parts. It is the only way the eggshell rule actually does the work.

Talk to Nick

Call or text (718) 261-0546. Spanish line: (718) 261-0546. Bring the prior records when you can. Reach me through the contact form and we will go through the timeline.

Compliance

This page is general legal information about New York's eggshell plaintiff rule and is not legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed by reading this page. Each case is decided on its specific facts. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Attorney advertising.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This answer is general legal information, not legal advice for your specific case.