Did I sign all of my rights away?

[Sarahsch]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MN

In the spring of 1999 I was in a car accident with a semi. The semi ran through a stop sign and I hit him going 60 mph. My 3 year old son was left unharmed, my sister broke her ankle and cracked her head and needed stitches and I fractured my spine and pulled every muscle in my back. neck and buttocks. I was fined with not wearing a seat belt but nothing else. The semi driver was fined with failure to yield at a stop sign. My family requested I sue the semi driver which I did pursue a month after the accident as I had no medical insurance and was off of work for the next 5 months recuperating as I could not walk for a couple of weeks and had to walk with a walker for awhile and attend physical therapy. I had just turned 21.

In 2001 the semi drivers company offered me $15,000 to settle. During this time my 17 year old sister was hospitalized (she was born with Spina Bifida) and was in Rochester being treated for shunt failure and having numerous brain surgeries. I was so depressed and stressed out and after 3 years just didn't even want to think about it and accepted the offer. My sister died that same week and I had to go to my lawyers to get the check the day after she died. I remember I signed paperwork at my lawyers office but didn't even know what it was I was so removed from my sisters death I was just going through the motions.

The money didn't last long. I developed numerous medical conditions due to the amount of prescription medication I was on for pain, arthritis, migraines, sleep deprivation and depression all which stemmed from my back injury and my medical bills got higher and higher.

I had to file for bankruptcy in 2004 for not being able to pay my medical bills (no other debt). Now 5 years later I have so many medical bills again which all stem from that car accident I feel I made a mistake as I think I signed away my right to revisit asking for anything more through this accident.

Does anyone know my rights in this situation? As I know the smart thing now would have been to not deal with it when my sister died and postpone it but hindsight is always 20/20.

If anyone is willing to give me some advice I would appreciate it, please let me know if i need to post more information on this for someone to assist me.

Thank you,What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

[ecmst12]

I agree it was a mistake, but there is nothing more you can do. You had a lawyer, did they not advise you that you were making a mistake? But you signed away your right to recover anything else and even if you hadn't, the SOL ran out many years ago.