                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

MEDICAL EXAMINATION; PHYSICIAN-PATIENT PRIVILEGE INAPPLICABLE; AUTOPSY (§
65.2-607)

A. After an injury and so long as he claims compensation, the employee, if so
requested by his employer or ordered by the Commission, shall submit himself to
examination, at reasonable times and places, by a duly qualified physician or
surgeon designated and paid by the employer or the Commission. However, no
employer may obtain more than one examination per medical specialty without
prior authorization from the Commission, based upon a showing of good cause or
necessity. The employee shall have the right to have present at such examination
any duly qualified physician or surgeon provided and paid by him. No fact
communicated to, or otherwise learned by, any physician or surgeon who may have
attended or examined the employee, or who may have been present at any
examination, shall be privileged, either in hearings provided for by this title,
or any action at law brought to recover damages against any employer subject to
the provisions of this title.

B. If the employee refuses to submit himself to or in any way obstructs such
examination requested by and provided for by the employer, his right to
compensation and his right to take or prosecute any proceedings under this title
shall be suspended until such refusal or objection ceases and no compensation
shall at any time be payable for the period of suspension unless in the opinion
of the Commission the circumstances justify the refusal or obstruction.

C. The employer or the Commission may in any case of death require an autopsy at
the expense of the party requesting the same. Such autopsy shall be performed
upon order of the Commission, and anyone obstructing or interfering with such
autopsy shall be punished for contempt.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 65-88; 1968, c. 660, § 65.1-91; 1991, c. 355; 1993, c.
379.