MEDICOLEGAL BOOKINGS

Dear Sir / Madam / Attorney 

With respect to medicolegal and third party examinations, the following are conditions and rules applying to these examinations.

1. I undertake to do these medico-legal examinations as rapidly as possible and will make provision for the rapid completion of the medico-legal examinations in cases where urgent or emergency medico-legal examinations are needed.
2. The medico-legal examinations will be done as quickly and as urgently as required. If an emergency situation arises I will do the examinations on weekends.
3. I undertake to provide an objective and non-biased view of the case, a view which may not necessarily support the interest of a particular client.
4. Nevertheless, it will be an experienced view of the situation since I have been in neurosurgery for over 40 years and I have also had experience with thousands of medico-legal examinations, reports, court appearances, etc.
5. I undertake to produce the medico-legal examinations quickly, i.e. from the time of seeing the client until the time of preparation and posting, faxing or collection of the final report, the time interval that will lapse will be no more than 10 days to two weeks, i.e. there is no place for producing these reports 2 or 4 or 6 or 9 months down the line and this is something that attorneys and practitioners should find reassuring in relation to demands of their particular practices and the deadlines that they have to meet.

In exchange for all of this, the following requirements from attorneys and/ or clients:

1. The fee for 2020/21  for medico-legal reports is approximately R18 085 to R22 620. This may change or vary according to the nature of the report, with a complicated report or one that needs much research, fees may increase proportionately. For emergency medico-legal reports done on a Saturday or Sunday, the fee is R22620 price of a RAF4 form varies between R8245 and R9000 depending on the complexity of the case.
2. The report will be released via collection, faxing or e-mail only once the fee has been paid. The reasons for this are obvious, as it does not pay to do these reports, which are often lengthy and time-consuming, with the prospect and chances of no payment and final settlement 2 – 5 years away or more, as is the situation with the Third Party Fund and/ or other medical-legal situations in South Africa today.
3. If the client, is late for the medicolegal  examination, or  does not arrive for the medico-legal examination, and it has not been cancelled at least 48 hours before,a no-show fee will be charged. I am to be paid R6342.00 per client that does not arrive. The reason for this is also obvious. Medico-legal examinations are booked weeks to months ahead and if there are “no shows” it disrupts the week and also disrupts the potential to see other cases which could have been fitted in or slotted in if one knew that a particular client was not going to arrive. For Sunday, Saturday and emergency appointments that do not arrive a fee of R7000 will be charged.
4. It is important to note that letters and telephone consults will be charged for. These are both time consuming and letters require preparation and study, and to date, attorneys are often reluctant to pay for these. Addendum reports, RAF4 and RAF1 forms will also be charged for and will need to be paid before release of those reports/forms. Pre-trial minutes/meetings, joint minutes, etc. will also be charged for and we expect you to pay for these on presentation of the account.
5. We will not charge interest on accounts which are outstanding, however, interest, at 18% will be charged on outstanding “No Show medico-legal” accounts

When making an appointment, you will have accepted our terms and conditions.

Yours Faithfully 

P.Miller