Medical treatment can be easily tracked by paperwork and documentation. It provides a foolproof evidence that he or she was injured and suffered loss due to the incident caused by the defendant. These files mainly come into play when seeking compensation. An independent medical examiner (IME) is a major requirement for a personal injury case.
In case of injuries after a severe vehicular accident, monetary payouts are generally required for compensation. It holds true once medical insurance has expired. This causes the survivor or the injured person to receive deserving compensation through the defendant or his or her insurance company. The opposing party of lawyers or insurance carriers might hire a medical examiner to check the victim’s injuries and record the results in the form of a document of evaluation to confirm that the injuries came from the current incident. If there seems any loophole, they shall not spare a single chance to point it out that the injuries were a result of some prior accident. If the doctor refutes certain claims of the victim, the claim might even be denied or reduced by a great value. An independent medical examiner plays a major role in such cases may where corroboration of the initial claims of injury by the victim is required.
Need for an Independent Medical Examiner
The victim generally prefers to be treated by his or her family doctor or a chosen physician just after getting injured in an accident. But the insurance agency does not hold the evaluation by this medical professional in high regards. It is because they believe he or she might be biased towards his or her regular patient. As a result, the insurance company appoints an independent medical examiner to thoroughly scrutinize and check the injured person’s body. This examiner’s evaluation holds high value in confirming the victim’s claims or refuting them. The pre-existing conditions of the victim’s body might be compared to the present one. The main objective to entail an independent physician is to provide a genuine and unbiased truth behind the injuries of the victim. This sole crucial proof can make or break the claim. It is needed by the judge or jury in the court to look into an unbiased viewpoint.
The victim might have to undergo several legal conflicts he does not get an Independent Medical Examiner to ascertain his injuries. In case any claim by the victim appears to be suspicious, questionable or vague, insurance companies might hire an expert medical examiner by themselves to further prove the fact stated by the victim. This is made possible through varied new state laws. This forces the victim to obtain a thorough medical examination by an additional physician days after the actual incident. The stricter the clauses in the state policy, the more are the victims inclined to hire an independent medical examiner and get through it. The victim might even be loaded with certain unwelcomed burdens due to location, distance, availability or any other factor. This also makes the victim undergo check-up under another expert doctor preferably in the same location.
In certain states, a judge might be entitled to power to order medical examinations through an independent physician in certain court cases. This is mainly attributed by the grave physical or mental injuries of the injured party. However, medical examiners are not at all required when only property damage has occurred without any medical damage. Certain times IMEs are needed for unique types of court cases where there is an involvement of emotional, psychological or physical disability or illness that may be predominant in the victim.
Sometimes, medical examination might involve many rounds. It might be demanded in the court for the injured person to undergo more than one medical exam. More than one exam may be required of the injured party when it is ordered.
The party that has asked for the results usually pays for the visit to the ordered IMEs. However, a minus point is that the physician might be selected by the person that ordered the independent examination. The attorney in charge of the respective case might be present for the medical examination to safeguard the rights of the victim of the incident.
The services of a personal injury lawyer should always be acknowledged to ensure that the claim is processed correctly. It guarantees the protection of all the rights of the victim. Personal injury cases often tend to turn into a mayhem with paperwork maze at a later stage. So, legal representation is of utmost importance. The chances of success get increased by manifolds only after a lawyer starts assisting the plaintiff.
There are certain standard requirements for the standard of IMEs:
- In general, only one IME (Independent Medical Examination) is to be conducted. Only if there is a strong reason enough, it can be done more than once to ascertain the validity of the claim brought by the injured person.
- The injured person on whom the exam is to be performed must be given a substantial notice of the time by the defendant or the insurance carrier. He must also be informed regarding the location, scope and purpose of the examination.
- The payment is to be fulfilled by the defendant’s party or specifically the insurance company.
- The plaintiff’s attorney has the right to cross-question the independent medical examiner at the time of the trial or deposition, as the case may be.
