File a Petition for Damages in the 14th Judicial District Court for Calcasieu Parish within 2 years of the injury date under La. Civ. Code art. 3493.11.

1. An old MRI does not bar recovery. Louisiana law allows recovery when a wreck, fall, or other negligence aggravates a pre-existing condition. The insurer is allowed to investigate your prior records, but it cannot reject the claim just because you had arthritis, a bad back, or a prior surgery. If you were active and independent before the event and now cannot safely live alone, that change matters.

2. The real issue is aggravation, not perfection. Louisiana follows the eggshell plaintiff rule in practice: the defendant takes the injured person as found. If a crash on I-10 in Lake Charles turned a manageable condition into disabling pain, the at-fault party is responsible for the worsening they caused. They do not get a discount because you were older or medically vulnerable.

3. Insurers use old imaging to attack causation. The usual argument is: "Your MRI already showed degeneration, so this is not from the accident." That is incomplete. MRIs show structure, not when symptoms became disabling. The key proof is a timeline: your function before the incident, the sudden decline afterward, and treating-doctor opinions connecting the event to the increase in symptoms, surgery need, or loss of independence.

4. The records that matter most are comparative records. Gather pre-incident records showing baseline activity, then post-incident records from providers in the Lake Charles area showing increased pain, new restrictions, falls risk, need for home help, or inability to drive. If Medicare or a hospital has paid bills, get the payoff figures before settlement talks, especially during tax season when medical debt and lien amounts affect what you keep.

If the insurer keeps saying "pre-existing," what they are usually saying is they want proof of aggravation in medical terms. That is a proof fight, not an automatic denial.