The Recent No-Fault Act Amendments Do Not Prevent Insurers from Obtaining Independent Medical Evaluations for Trial Purposes Performed by 'Non-Matching' Medical Experts
![handle is hein.journals/waynlr65 and id is 639 raw text is:
THE RECENT NO-FAULT ACT AMENDMENTS DO NOT
PREVENT INSURERS FROM OBTAINING INDEPENDENT
MEDICAL EVALUATIONS FOR TRIAL PURPOSES
PERFORMED BY NON-MATCHING MEDICAL EXPERTS
CHRISTIAN C. HUFFMANt
I. INTRODUCTION ..................................... ..... 619
II. THE MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT'S DECISION IN MUCI................... 621
III. THE MISINTERPRETATION OF MUCI........... ............ 627
A. Section 3151 and Section 3159 Do Not Limit an Insurer's
Ability to Request an IME Pursuant to Rule 2.311.................. 628
B. Rule 2.311 Does Not Conflict with Section 500.3151 and
Section 3159 When a No-Fault Insurer Requests an IME for
the Purposes ofLitigation. ................... ....... 629
C. Rule 2.311 and MRE 702 Should be Read in Pari Materia
with Section 3151 and Section 3159.............. ..... 632
IV. CONCLUSION .......................................... 635
I. INTRODUCTION
In Muci v. State Farm, the Michigan Supreme Court held that
Michigan Court Rule (MCR or Rule) 2.311 does not enable a court to
refuse or render conditional the statutory right that the Legislature has
granted to a no-fault insurer in Michigan's No-Fault Automobile
Insurance Act to mandate that the insured submit to an independent
medical evaluation (IME).' Rather, sections 3151 and 3159 of the No-
Fault Act alone govern, and [Rule] 2.311 is not applicable to such
examinations.2
The Michigan Legislature recently amended section 3151 as part of
its comprehensive overhaul of the No-Fault Act.3 In its current form,
section 3151 now mandates that any IME performed pursuant to section
3151 must be conducted by a physician whose qualifications match the
qualifications of the insured's treating physician:
t Shareholder, Garan Lucow Miller P.C. This article originally appeared in the
April 2020 issue of the State Bar of Michigan's Journal of Insurance & Indemnity Law.
1. Muci v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 478 Mich. 178, 732 N.W.2d 88 (2007);
see also MICH. COMP. LAWS §§ 500.3151-500.3159 (2019).
2. Muci, 478 Mich. at 191, 732 N.W.2d at 96.
3. See 2019 Mich. Pub. Acts 21, 22.
619](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/waynlr65&div=28&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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