§ 2032.020.Persons subject to examination; scope of demand;

This section states the chapter's basic premise. Any party may seek discovery through a physical or mental examination, but only of specific people: a party to the case, an agent of a party, or a natural person in a party's custody or under a party's legal control, and only when that person's mental or physical condition, including blood group, is truly in controversy in the action. Putting a condition at issue by suing for an injury, or by defending on the ground that no injury exists, opens the door to this kind of exam; a condition nobody has raised does not.

The section also sets minimum qualifications for who can conduct the exam. A physical examination has to be performed by a licensed physician or another appropriately licensed health care practitioner. A mental examination has a narrower list: a licensed physician, or a licensed clinical psychologist who holds a doctoral degree and has at least five years of postgraduate experience diagnosing emotional and mental disorders. Where the case involves alleged sexual abuse of a minor and the person being examined is under 15, the examining physician or psychologist must also have expertise in child abuse and trauma, recognizing that examining a young alleged abuse victim calls for more than general credentials.