Medicolegal Issues Associated with Motor Vehicle Collisions

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses issues of particular importance to the conduct of independent medical examinations (IMEs) after the occurrence of a motor vehicle collision (MVC) and provides practical recommendations regarding training and practice for medical experts serving as examiners, treaters, expert witnesses, trial consultants, and case reviewers. The formal medicolegal evaluation or IME , a frequently disliked term on the part of attorneys unless the exam was legislatively prescribed or court ordered, provides an opportunity for a non treating physician to perform an evaluation of an individual following an MVC in a medicolegal as opposed to a clinical care context. In such a capacity, there remain debates about innumerable issues including the degree, if any, of a physician–patient relationship, the necessary qualifications to perform such exams, and the degree, if any, of protection of examinee findings and/or information based on confidentiality, among many others. An overview of some of the issues regarded as paramount in the context of performing IMEs and providing medicolegal testimony regarding MVC-related injuries are discussed.