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Tuesday, March 17, 2015
SJC holds that under PIP statute any licensed health care practitioner can conduct IME
I posted a few months ago, here, about a Massachusetts Appeals Court decision in Ortiz v. Examworks, Inc. in which plaintiff Flor Ortiz sued his insurer for having an IME for a PIP claim conducted by a physical therapist. The Appeals Court dismissed the claim on the basis that Ortiz suffered no damages, and did not address whether the insurer had acted in bad faith.
In Ortiz v. Examworks, Inc., 2014 WL 7930423 (Mass.), the SJC has now taken up that question.
The SJC quoted the PIP statute, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 90 §34M, which provides that an injured person claiming PIP benefits "shall submit to physical examinations by physicians." The SJC held that the word "physicians" in the statute refers not only to medical doctors, but also to "additional types of licensed health care practitioners." The court stated, "We interpret the statute to intend the broader definition of the word because it is the one most consonant with the statutory purpose."
