According to published reports the use of independent medical examiners, or Independent Medical Examinations ("IME") as most insurance companies would call it, or Defense Medical Examinations ("DME") has come into question due to discrepancies between the exam of the person and the report of the doctor. Under the workers' compensation system, workers with bona fide injuries are entitled to medical care and replacement wages which are usually paid for by their employer's insurer. Independent exams are used to weed out workers who exaggerate injuries or get unnecessary care by having a neutral exam by a doctor that the insurance company selects and pays for. A review of case files published by the NYT found that the exam reports are routinely tilted to benefit insurers by minimizing or dismissing injuries.
Under Maryland Rules the insurers must seek a court order to have the injured person examined by a Defense Medical Examiner, unless both the Plaintiff and the insurer agree otherwise. Claimants are permitted to bring anyone along they choose to witness or film the sessions. But this has not stopped the doctors from saying one thing in the exam and putting the exact opposite on the report. For example, my Baltimore office had a case where the DME doctor examined an injured person whom we represented and provided two different reports with completely different scenario and opinions. A good practitioner can take advantage of these discrepancies and discredit the doctor's opinions based on his own reports.
For their part, the doctors argue that they do not write the final reports but instead either send a transcription or a checklist into the entities who the insurers go through to get the doctor appointments. The doctors then receive the report back and sign off, but as one doctor put it "I just sign them...If I read them all, I'd have them coming out of my ears and I'd never have time to talk to my wife. They want speed and volume. That's the name of the game." The insurers use of Defense Medical Examinations, that are not so independent, is a practice that is depriving many legitimately injured people from receiving the compensation they deserve and need.
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