How To Prepare For And Deal With A CME
Posted on: 3 July 2018
If you are making an auto accident claim, expect the insurance company to trigger a compulsory medical examination (CME) for you. The CME is supposed to find out the true nature of your injuries. Here are a few tips on how to prepare for and deal with the examination.
Be Utterly Honest
The doctor conducting the CME ought to be neutral, but because the world as it ought to be is much different from the world as it is, don't be too surprised if the doctor conducting the examination is a bit skewed towards the insurance carrier. Some injury victims know this and, therefore, try to hide some information from the doctor. Unfortunately, doing that will just hurt your case even further. You need to be polite and utterly honest with the doctor so as not to give them any reason to doubt you.
Understand Your Rights
Educate yourself on your rights before making the CME appointment. Your auto accident doctor will educate you on your rights and responsibilities so that no one takes advantage of your ignorance during the examination. Here are some of these rights and responsibilities:
- You can refuse to sign any document if you haven't received your lawyers advise on the same
- The CME should provide you with a report of the examination
- You are expected to be honest
Understand the Scope of the Examination
Although you are expected to comply with your insurer's requests by agreeing to the CME, this doesn't mean that the CME doctor has the freedom to conduct all manner of tests on you. The doctor should only conduct tests or asks you questions that relate to the injuries you sustained in the accident.
To ensure that this is the case, the doctor will issue you, through your attorney, with a document entailing the scope of the examination before the appointment date. Thus, you have the right to refuse any procedures that were not previously mentioned. Note that the doctor may still get the legal permission to run the tests later on if they can prove the tests are relevant to the case.
See Your Doctor around the Same Time
Lastly, it's a good idea to see your doctor on the same day as the CME. You should see your doctor shortly before or after the CME. This way you get to weigh the findings of the CME against the findings of a truly independent medical professional – your doctor. This gives you the platform to challenge the findings of the CME in case they differ too much from your doctor's findings.
For more information, contact a lawyer like Carl L. Britt, Jr.
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