An "Independant Medical Exam" Doctor Says I Can Return to Work or I that I am "Fully Recovered"If you have been sent to a workers compensation independent medical examination (which is really an insurance medical examination) the result can almost be predicted: the IME doctor chosen by the insurance company is going to say you can return to work. This will be either to full duty, without restrictions, or to light duty based on a physical capacities assessment form, which the IME doctor will fill out at the time of your examination. Very often, the insurance company will then send you a Notice of Ability to Return to Work - as the next step in an effort to terminate, suspend or reduce your workers compensation benefits. If you are already working despite your injury, the IME may very well claim you are "fully recovered," to pave the way for the insurance carrier or self-insured employer to stop all of your benefits, making all future lost time, lost wage and ongoing medical billing strictly YOUR problem.
Clients often complain to us that these so-called independent medical examinations are bogus or medically improper, or state things like "the IME doctor didn't examine me - he barely even touched me." Very often, the examination itself is extremely short and performed almost as an afterthought. The reports are predictable: the IME doctor provides the insurance company with a physical capacity assessment or other release to return the employee to work, or even with an affidavit of recovery, claiming you are "fully recovered" even to the point you need no more treatment and have no further restrictions on what you can do in the workforce. This might be great to hear -- if only it were not so often grossly untrue. Even having very serious ongoing effects from your injury, even supported by diagnostic studies such as MRIs or EMGs will not protect you. This is becuase IME doctors coordinate with insurance adjusters and insurer attorneys to define the "work-related" element of your injury as much less than your full injury. Your MRI is positive? The IME doctor is likely to claim those abnormal findings are "degenerative" or in some other way "unrelated" to the work injury. The IME doctor will define the "work related" element of your condition tto be only minor and temporary and now miraculously "fully resolved" or no longer the cause of any ongoing work limitations. This is absolutely common in IMEs. In fact, an IME that decides otherwise is the rare exception. In fact, even that seemingly positive result can be a ploy to boost the IME doctor's credibility. That is, we have seen IME doctors appear to give the injured worker the "benefit of the doubt" to approve ongoing treatment and ongoing disability, while inviting a follow-up IME. When that next IME is done a few months later, the doctor suddenly has very different opinions, claims the injured worker made the same complaints yet they are no longer supported by his clinical findings, painting the injured worker as faking or exaggerating when in fact there is simply no change in their chronic injury. The IME doctor then comes off as highly credible since, after all, he gave the patient the benefit of the doubt in his earlier IME. This is a ploy we are seeing more often from the more experienced and entrenched Insurance Medical Examination doctors, and used for the most serious or long-term cases. The IME doctors do this to boost their own seeming credibility, at the expense of legitimately struggling workers who have very serious and very long-term injuries. You can just bet that will gain that doctor more work from the gleeful insurance adjuster. How to Fight Back Against an IME DoctorHow does one fight back against this kind of manipulation by the insurance industry? One has to be ready. One needs their own very solid medical support. One needs guidance and advice from a skilled attorney specialist who knows the system, knows the tricks used by unscrupulous or desperate adjusters.
The insurer and their IME experts are very well-versed in the ways of the workers' compensation system. Any or all of them will seek to benefit their own positions at your expense. All of them have a stake in minimizing your injury, limiting your rights, and attempting to block you from the leverage you need to secure a lump sum settlement for the lasting effects of your injury or to remain on compensation for the long term. For this reason, it is important for you to really know your rights. If you've been scheduled for an IME, a so-called "independent medical examination," and you do not already have the support of a skilled attorney who is a certified workers compensation specialist, it's time to make a phone call. You need to prepare for the IME. You need to take steps to be ready to fight back, regardless of the IME outcome. Being fully ready may help you avoid the need for a fight in court or even the immediate loss of your benefits. Learn what your options are and the best course for your specific situation. Call the Law Offices of Timothy Kennedy There are ways to fight back! You need to be ready before the IME report is released and before the insurance company moves against you, or your rights and benefits could disappear. Your work injury gives you rights! Many of these rights will depend upon your particular situation and how best your insightful and experienced workers’ compensation attorney advises you and guides you through the perils of the system. Other rights, however, apply generally to all employees covered under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act. and you should be aware of these important Pennsylvania Workers Compensation rights. Now we have reached the point where you simply must call me. Seriously. Stop reading and call Tim Kennedy, Certified Pennsylvania Workers Compensation Law Specialist, so that we may discuss your situation NOW.
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