Healthcare provider action for payment for medical expenses under MCL 500.3157; “Reasonably necessary” services; MCL 500.3107(1)(a); Krohn v Home-Owners Ins Co; Nervomatrix/Trigger Point Impedance Imaging (TPII) treatment to provide back pain relief

The court held that the trial court did not err in ruling that plaintiff-healthcare provider failed to create an issue of fact as to whether the Nervomatrix/TPII treatment administered to defendant’s insured was objectively reasonable and necessary. Thus, the court affirmed summary disposition for defendant. The insured received the Nervomatrix/TPII treatment from plaintiff after being involved in a motor vehicle accident. Plaintiff sought payment from defendant under MCL 500.3157 for the treatment. Under MCL 500.3107(1)(a) and Krohn, the services for which payment of no-fault “benefits is sought must be both (1) objectively reasonable and (2) necessary for an insured’s care, recovery or rehabilitation. A treatment that is experimental and not generally accepted in the medical community is not reasonable or necessary” unless it is shown to be efficacious. While it is generally a fact question “whether the services or products provided were reasonably necessary . . . in some cases, it may be possible for the trial court to decide the reasonableness or necessity of an expense as a matter of law.” Plaintiff asserted that the treatment at issue “is accepted in the medical community and that its claim was supported by” a doctor’s (M) report. While M supported the use of the Nervomatrix device, he also described the “treatment as ‘novel,’ as an addition to ‘conventional’ treatments, and as requiring additional research to ascertain its efficacy. Defendant presented evidence that certain of the studies upon which [M’s] report relied were conducted by the manufacturer of the Nervomatrix device and that the studies do not demonstrate that treatments with [it] produced better results than placebo treatment. Plaintiff in response” failed to show “the trial court that the treatment was accepted in the medical community,” or to show its efficacy.