Personal injury and the associated lawsuits that deal with larger amounts of money for the injured party oftentimes may ask for proof of the person being physically or even mentally injured, and oftentimes they’re entitled to damages to make up for the injury. They might need a medical exam for the purpose of validating the injuries of the person that it happened to.
These are oftentimes called independent medical exams, or IME. They are also called “compulsory” medical exams, to provide the status of the injuries through diagnosing and see if they’re connected to the lawsuit as well.
Usually, the one that’s asking for this will need to have the exam paid for, or they cover it via insurance, and usually, they choose the physician to conduct this, but it may be based on what insurance may pay for.
Some states even allow insurance to force plaintiffs to submit IMEs before they can move forward, and in other cases, the judge may order this one.
If you file a personal injury claim to get compensation for injuries and need to submit one of these, then you must do so, to help you increase your chances of winning the lawsuit. If you don’t do so, you might get sanctioned by the court, or even dismissed in a lot of cases.
Conditions for IME
They may ask for this in a lot of instances, but the reason for them do include the following:
- The injuries are under dispute
- The insurance company must confirm actual injury
- The issues associated with whether the defendant is responsible for such
- The injured party didn’t have a medical examination
- The insurance policy has language that specifically talks about this
They can also be ordered for different situations, including guardianship claims and other sorts of example.
The insurance as well might also ask for you to do this, however, they might not be ordered during the following instances:
- The insurance doesn’t have the language that involves IMEs like other states do, and in a lot of cases they may not compel for this to happen
- The plaintiff is suing for damage to properties and not personal injuries
- The exam may subject the plaintiff to undue hardships such as maybe it’s too far away from their home.
- The plaintiff already filed a suit but they’re completely healed, however, this may be hard to determine the injury status due to the lack of evidence for such.
What if I Got a Request
If you are requested by the court to do this, you should comply with them. You shouldn’t wait to comply on this simply because it helps facilitate the case.
If you do have doubts and reservations regarding this, you should talk to your personal injury attorney. However, you will typically have nothing to lose if you do this since in a lot of cases, the evidence will help to support the damages claim too.
However, you should take notes during, before, and after your exams so that you’ve got a record, which includes the names, locations, dates, and the time of the exams. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about this either when you talk to your doctor as well, since it will help with the case.
In a lot of instances, it will require the attorney to attend the IME too, so that they can observe the case, and in a lot of instances, they can help with protecting rights.
IMEs are good for validating claims and getting a prognosis on the status of your health too.