If you have been injured in an auto accident and your automobile insurance is paying your medical bills under your Personal Injury Protection (“PIP”) benefits, there are occasions when your own company will ask you to attend what they call an “Independent Medical Examination” (“IME”) by a doctor of their choosing. They typically have the right to do this under a clause in your insurance policy, but it is a warning sign that your company is beginning to question the type or extent of the medical care you are receiving. You have some important choices to make if this occurs.
You have the right not to attend the IME, and there may be circumstances in which it may be in your best interests not to attend. Typically, the doctors the insurance companies choose are chosen because they have certain biases and often tell the insurance companies you do not need any future medical care. That allows your insurance company to refuse to pay for any continuing treatment. A skilled automobile accident attorney can assist you in making an informed choice.
If another driver is at fault, that driver’s company may also use the medical report sought by your company against you when you try to settle your claim with the other driver’s insurance company. Not all doctors who do this work for insurance companies are biased, but it is an issue where good legal advice can help ensure that you get the medical care you need.
-Jim Nelson, auto accident lawyer in Corvallis, Oregon