IME Expert May Rely Upon Another IME Report

In the case of Feld v. Primus Technologies Corp., No. 4:12-CV-01492, 2015 U.S. Dist. Lexis 55270 (M.D. Pa. April 28, 2015 Brann, J.), Judge Matthew W. Brann of the Middle District Federal Court of Pennsylvania relied upon Fed.R.E. 703 in ruling that Defendants in tort litigation may utilize independent medical examinations of the plaintiff prepared in separate worker’s compensation proceedings. 

The court denied a Plaintiff’s Motion in Limine in this regard reasoning that, even if such IME reports may be arguably biased, IME reports are the kind of records that a medical expert would legitimately rely upon, i.e, the records of other doctors.   

Judge Matthew W. Brann

Judge Brann did emphasize, however, that while an expert may rely on IME reports, the expert’s opinion testimony must still satisfy the usual evidentiary requirements, such as the hearsay rule, before the opinion may be admitted into evidence.

A copy of this decision by Judge Brann can be viewed online HERE.

I send thanks to Attorney James Beck of the Philadelphia office of the Reed Smith law firm for bringing this case to my attention.  Please be sure to check out Attorney Beck’s excellent blog, The Drug and Device Law Blog HERE.