A very common tactic used by workers’compensation insurance companies to cut off your benefits involves the use of something called an “independent medical exam” or IME. As you might guess, in my experience these medical evaluations are rarely independent and they often serve no purpose other than medical support for termination of benefits.
Fortunately, most of the State Board judges that consider workers’ comp issues understand how the IME game works, and they look at these results with a very critical eye, but insurance adjusters continue to use this practice as a matter of course.
When I get an IME notice, the first thing I will look for is the name of the examining doctor. There are a number of physicians out there who work extensively for the insurance industry and in almost every file sent to one of these doctors, the resulting report will minimize the extent and nature of the work injury, question the relation of injury to the accident at work , and suggest that a full duty return to work is appropriate.
Because the insurance company has the right to send you out for one of these biased IMEs, you have no choice but to go. I can usually predict what the forthcoming report will say and that the insurance company is planning to try to cut you off, so I gear up to request a hearing challenging the proposed cut off.
The file will end up on the desk of a defense lawyer who I most likely know. He or she and I will talk and acknowledge that the insurance IME was a waste of time and we will either start to discuss settlement, or try to agree on a more unbiased doctor to see you. [Read more…] about “Independent” Medical Exams Scheduled by the Insurance Company are Rarely Legitimate