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Independent Medical Examinations

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When a claimant claims an injury that does not agree with the facts of the incident claimed to have caused the injury, the adjuster will often seek the assistance of an Independent Medical Examiner (IME) to verify the extent of the claimed injury. The IME is usually a forensic physician or a chiropractor who has agreed to evaluate an injured person for a fee and is not involved in the treatment of the injured person.

In Pennsylvania, an insurer providing medical benefits to its insureds following an automobile accident did not have to establish good cause before the insureds were required to take physical examination administered by doctor of insurer\\u2019s choice, even though statute provided generally that insurer seeking to compel independent medical exam was required to show good cause; policy gave insurer right to order examination without establishing good cause. [Fleming v. CNA Ins. Companies, 409 Pa. Super. 285, 597 A.2d 1206 (1991)].

Independent medical examinations are within the trial court\\u2019s discretion and not available as a matter of right. [See Minn.R.Civ.P. 35.01; Wills v. Red Lake Municipal Liquor Store, 350 N.W.2d 452, 454 (Minn.App.1984)]. Before a trial court orders a party to submit to an independent medical examination, the party requesting the examination must show good cause. [Loveland v. Kremer, 464 N.W.2d 306 (Minn. App., 1990)]