If you are pursuing personal injury damages, the insurance company might require you to undergo an independent medical examination. The medical examiner will generate a report based on their findings during the examination. Below are some of the tips you can use to dispute the report if it hurts your case.
Scrutinize the Report
The first step is to get a copy of the report and scrutinize it. Although the adjuster will be the first to get the report, you are also entitled to a copy. Don't let the adjuster give you a verbal overview of the IME report. Get the official report and scrutinize it to identify the weak areas you can target for the dispute.
Point Out the Unfairness
In some cases, an IME might be so lopsided that it's clear to everyone (well, except the insurance company and the examiner) that the examination was unfair. For example, you know you have an unfair report if the examination was unusually brief. There is no standard time, but enjuris.com estimates that most appointments last 30 minutes to an hour, so a five-minute examination is clearly inadequate.
Use Your Medical Records
The main purpose of the IME is to confirm or disapprove your medical claims. Your medical records already contain your medical claims, especially if you have been faithfully following your doctor's advice. Therefore, you can use your medical records to point out discrepancies in the report.
Consider an example where you have been getting treatment for a leg fracture for the last few months. If the examiner thinks that you don't have a fracture but rather a sprain, you can point to your medical records to disapprove of the examiner's claims.
Point Out Inaccuracies
You can also point out factual inaccuracies in the report. Again, this calls for careful scrutiny of the report because you won't spot the inaccuracies if you don't read the report. Consider a case where the report claims your injuries are not severe because your doctor only ordered one-week bed rest. If the order was for one-month bed rest, then you can point out the inaccuracy of the report during the dispute.
Get a Professional Response
Lastly, you don't have to dispute the report on your own. In fact, you should get a professional dispute from your lawyer or doctor. Your lawyer will issue a legal dispute, and your doctor can issue a medical dispute if there are bases for the same. For example, if the report disputes your medical diagnosis, your doctor can write a counterargument (at a small fee).
For more information, reach out to a company like Prediletto, Halpin, Scharnikow & Nelson, P.S.
Share11 May 2020
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