McDaniel v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance

6 Pa. D. & C.4th 520, 1990 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 310
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Mercer County
DecidedFebruary 23, 1990
Docketno. 248 C.D. 1989
StatusPublished

This text of 6 Pa. D. & C.4th 520 (McDaniel v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Mercer County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McDaniel v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, 6 Pa. D. & C.4th 520, 1990 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 310 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1990).

Opinion

ACKER, P.J.,

We have for consideration two civil actions requesting that defendant insurance carrier assume payment of medical bills pursuant to the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Act. 75 Pa.C.S. §1701 et seq. The cases come before the court upon petitions filed by defendant, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., to require plaintiffs to provide defendant with a current authorization to obtain medical records and to submit to an independent medical examination by James Cosgrove, M.D. at the Pas-savant Hospital in Pittsburgh. To these petitions, plaintiffs have filed replies. Although the parties were offered the opportunity to present evidence, they elected not to do so. Oral arguments and briefs were presented. It would appear defendant approached this case as any request for a physical examination where a physical or mental condition is in controversy. It relies upon Pa.R.C.P. 4010(a). [521]*521The right to require a physical examination is, however, much more limited.

The requirements to obtain a physical examination under the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law, 75 Pa.C.S. §1701 et seq., are set forth in section 1796 as follows:

“Whenever the mental or physical condition of a person is material to any claim for medical, income loss. . .benefits, a court of competent jurisdiction . . . may order the person to submit to a mental or physical examination by a physician. The order may only be made upon motion for good cause shown . . . if a person fails to comply with an order to be examined, the court or the administrator may order that person be denied benefits until compliance.”

The term “good cause” has been in the law of discovery for many years. In Schlagenhauf v. Holder, 397 U.S. 104, 885 S.Ct. 234 (1964), the court was called upon to interpret Federal Discovery Rule 35(a). There it was held that the “good cause” and “in controversy” required by federal rule 35(a) are not met by mere conclusory allegations of pleadings, nor by mere relevance to the case. There must be an affirmative showing that the examination sought is in a matter which is really and genuinely in controversy, and that good cause exists to order the exam. The court further held, “Good cause requirement is not a mere formality, but a plainly expressed limitation of the rule.” Schlagenhauf, supra. What may be good cause for one examination may not be for another. Therefore, the court holds that federal rule 35 requires discriminating application by the trial judge as to whether the movant has adequately demonstrated the existence of the prerequisites for application of the rule.

Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 1410 was amended in 1978 to bring it more closely in confor[522]*522mity to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 35. Contained therein is the wording, “good cause shown.” This requirement was added specifically although by implication, in prior Pennsylvania discovery rules, good cause was required. Its purpose is to protect against an undue invasion of the right of privacy.

The federal cases have split on the type of actions, examinations can be required. Pennsylvania, however, has taken the liberal view. Myers v. Travelers Insurance Co., 353 Pa. 523, 46 A.2d 224 (1046). There, the Wigmire view is adopted that the duty to bear witness to the truth includes the duty to exhibit one’s physical body as far as the ascertainment of the truth requires it.

The resolution of the instant cases must turn upon the application of the facts to the law through State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Allen, 375 Pa. Super. 319, 544 A.2d 491 (1988) and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Zachary, 370 Pa. Super. 386, 536 A.2d 800 (1987), allocatur denied, 533 A.2d 969. The teachings of Zachary, supra, are applied in State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Allen, supra. In Allen, the holding of Zachary is followed that “in order to demonstrate ‘good cause,’ it is mandatory that the averments contained within the petition . . . must rise to a level of specificity so as to insure that the claimant will not be forced to submit to unnecessary examinations sought in bad faith . . F Allen at 323, 544 A.2d at 492.

The Zachary and Allen courts adopted the analysis of two lower court decisions, both arising from Allegheny County and both authored by Wettick, J. The holding of both Nationwide Insurance Co. v. Fandary, 12 D.&C. 3d 65 (1979), and Erie Insurance Exchange v. Dzadony, 39 D.&C. 3d 33 (1986), was accepted. “Good cause” as taken from Fandary, supra, at 70 is that at a minimum the petition must [523]*523allege: (1) facts showing that proof supplied in support of the claim are inadequate; (2) that the proposed physical examination will substantially assist in evaluating the claim; (3) the amount of the claim justifies the order. In Dzadony, supra, Judge Wettick added to the rule that the plaintiff must show that the information supplied by the insured in support of his or her claim does not eliminate reasonable doubt as to the validity of the claim.

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Related

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Allen
544 A.2d 491 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1988)
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Zachary
536 A.2d 800 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1987)
Myers v. Travelers Insurance
46 A.2d 224 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1946)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
6 Pa. D. & C.4th 520, 1990 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 310, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcdaniel-v-state-farm-mutual-automobile-insurance-pactcomplmercer-1990.