An October 2009 ruling by Judge Panchik of the Armstrong County Court of Common Pleas denied some discovery requests of Erie Insurance Company in a lawsuit filed by one of its insureds. A woman was injured in an automobile accident resulting in serious injuries including fractures of her foot and ankle. She did not make a full recovery and her doctor gave her a physical therapy prescription.

Erie was her auto 1st party insurance company and denied payment for the p.t. After a PRO review claimed that the physical therapy was neither reasonable nor necessary, her Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer filed a lawsuit vs. Erie. Erie then forwarded Interrogatories which in part demanded discovery documents from the PA car crash victim’s lawsuit versus the defendant driver who caused the motor vehicle accident.

Judge Panchik ruled that the plaintiff was not responsible to provide Erie with copies of documents in the public domain equally available to Erie. Nor was the car crash victim required to provide privileged information in control of her and/or her attorney since the underlying car accident litigation was not relevant to whether the denial of medical bill payment was appropriate. Clever v. Erie Insurance Co. (C. P. Armstrong County, Oct. 6, 2009 J. Panchik)

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