ABSTRACT
Life-changing traumatic injuries not only cause profound physical trauma but may also create psychological and emotional responses that can be reactivated during medico-legal assessments. This paper examines the neurobiological basis of trauma responses, including hippocampal downregulation and amygdala-driven memory formation, which create fragmented, emotionally laden memories, that are susceptible to triggers such as reliving the index events. The current litigation process requires the gathering of expert evidence, which often prompts the repeated recounting of traumatic events across multiple assessments. This may exacerbate post-traumatic stress symptoms and impede the claimant’s recovery. We propose five recommendations to minimise the potential for re-traumatisation in catastrophic injury litigation: comprehensive background documentation in expert instructions, careful expert review of records before assessment, thoughtful history taking that avoids questions regarding the index traumatic events unless there is a clear need to ask them, better training for experts who may need to question vulnerable claimants regarding traumatic events, and reframing assessments to focus on current presentation rather than traumatic history. These reforms aim to balance the need for thorough evidenced reports with the claimant’s wellbeing, reducing avoidable psychological harm whilst maintaining litigation integrity.
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William Latimer-Sayer KC and others, ‘Reducing re-traumatisation of claimants in medico-legal litigation: a framework for reform’ [2026] Journal of Personal Injury Law (1) 53-58.
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