The limits on a total permanent disability award

The New Jersey Supreme Court recently heard oral argument concerning the mathematical limits of a workers’ compensation total disability case. At the heart of the case is the issue of whether an injured worker could have an increase in a pre-existing permanent partial disability [PPT] claim, that existed prior to the last compensable injury which was to another part of the body. The last compensable claim rendered the worker totally and permanently disabled.

Medical benefits comprise a significant portion of the benefits provided to an injured worker who has suffered an occupational injury or traumatically caused disability. Not allowing the petitioner to increase the award of a pre-existing compensable condition that results in the termination of the medical benefit flowing from that specific injury. Even if the need for medical treatment for the prior claim existed in the time-frame for filing an application to reopen or modify the prior award, the medical benefit would be extinguished should the Application to Review or Modify the Claim [Reopener] be barred. To eliminate benefits in such a fashion the injured worker's attorney argued would inappropriately shift the cost of medical care in most cases to Medicare or Medicaid contrary to the Social Security Act and regulations governing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS] and contrary to the Medicare Secondary Payer Act [MSP].

In the case argued, the employer was responsible for providing benefits under the NJ Workers’ Compensation Act for both the original accident, involving back injury and a subsequent injury, involving the neck and shoulder. The neck and shoulder injury rendered the injured worker totally and permanently disabled and involved Second Injury Fund [SIF] contribution. The employer argued that the injured worker should not be permitted to file a Reopener.  Consequently, the injured worker would be denied the ability to seek authorized medical care as well as a small increase in PPT.

The SIF, which contributes to total permanent disability [TPD] awards, when there are pre-existing medical conditions that combine with the last compensable injury to render the injured worker PPT.  Frank A. Petro, Esq., attorney for the injured worker, Respondent, argued that the pre-existing partial disability award should be increased thereby extending the statute of limitation for medical benefits for the pro injury as well as increasing PPT.  There was no stipulation or provision in the order addressing the issue of continued medical treatment.

Mr. Petro did not argue for concurrent PPT and PTD compensation payments,  specifically payments past the date of totality. The parties did agree that the NJ workers’ Compensation Act did not specifically address the issue of the payment of concurrent and/or consecutive payments.

Click here to view a video recording of the oral argument. (Courtesy of the Rutgers School of Law - Newark))

Title: CATRAMBONE V. BALLY'S PARK PLACE; SECOND INJURY FUND

Date: 2016-11-29 01:01:17

Description: Under the circumstances presented, did the Division of Workers Compensation err in awarding the petitioner an increase in disability for one of his two conditions?

Doc ID A-60-15

Appeal taken from an unreported opinion NJ App Div found at 2015WL7079047

Counsel                      Type

Anthony C. Famulari Appellant

Chery B. Kline           Respondent

Frank A. Petro            Respondent

What Should ILook for Hiring an Asbestos Law Firm? By Mantu

What Should ILook for  Hiring an Asbestos Law Firm? By Mantu

Lamentably, not all law workplaces speak to significant expert in mesothelioma are the same. While some may have a long time of understanding, distinctive firms are for the most part new to the domain of mesothelioma. Besides, some law workplaces may concentrate on various areas of law other than mesothelioma while another firm may only focus on asbestos cases. 

Alongside using your basic leadership capacity while making sense of which law office you should use, there are a couple of factors you should consider: 

• The law office should have contribution in overseeing mesothelioma cases. 
• The law office should be to an awesome degree capable in asbestos laws and prior cases. 
• Scan for a law office that focuses only on asbestos-related cases. 
• Look for law workplaces with a stellar reputation in dealing with asbestos cases. 
• The law office should appreciate asbestos laws, and in addition have wide learning of restorative issues related with asbestos diseases. 
• The law office should reliably keep you invigorated on what's occurring for your circumstance. Regardless of the way that legal counselors are possessed people, they should be open. 
• You should reliably get a basic talk at no charge before settling on a firm. 

Keep in mind that it's not recommended to hold a law office that promises you that you will win your case in any case. Disregarding the way that estimations show that the larger part mesothelioma losses do proceed to win their cases, there are a collection of segments included, and no case is guaranteed. An expert law office will help you to grasp your chances and what is incorporated, yet will never ensure that your case is 100% guaranteed

What is Making Things Easier

Despite the way that a law office will do the bigger piece of your case work, it's reliably a savvy thought to be orchestrated and make things less requesting so that the system kicks it into high apparatus snappier. 

In the first place, make an indicate aggregate your helpful records, including when and where you were investigated, and pass on this information to your hidden meeting. This will allow the firm to make sense of whether your body of evidence can be gone up against. 

Next, be set up to outfit the law office with your work history and information including the full association name, address, phone number, your occupation part, and to what degree you worked there. 

Finally, start checking all costs used identifying with your illness. For example, constantly keep a copy of specialist's visit costs, recuperating focus visits, mileage used to get to game plans, helpful supplies, and anything other cost you paid out due to your illness.

What Are Law Firm Fees

• Law workplaces may have particular costs and also various portion options. In any case, a finished and disapproving of law office grasps that losses of asbestos-related illnesses more than likely have enough financial weight in dealing with their malady, and can't endure the cost of ahead of time charges for true blue depiction. In this way, many firms tackle what's known as a probability cost start, inferring that they simply get paid when you get paid. 
• If the law office doesn't win your case, they don't get compensation either by and large. The elevating news, regardless, is that a firm should be adequately certain for your circumstance to take it on, which implies there is a respectable shot that if your case is gotten, it will be productive. 
• Law office costs are rates expelled from your total settlement or choice entirety, and yet again, the rate aggregate will vary dependent upon the firm. Guarantee you perceive how the accuses and rates capacity of the firm to this point so that there will be no confuse later on. 
• If a law office doesn't give a plausibility charge preface, there is an average shot that they don't have the cash related advantages for adequately show your case. Keep in mind that you'll require a firm that has the money related capacity to go up against your case on a probability charge introduce. 
• Legal advisors without the resources for manage your case usually can't give you the best depiction. A flawless general rule is to get some data about how the charges work so that there are no curveballs later on. Attorneys in perspective of your best preference will have no issues taking note of any request you have as for costs and expenses.

Significant Causes Symptoms Mesothelioma by Mantu

Significant Causes Symptoms And Types Of Mesothelioma by Mantu

What are the real reasons for Mesothelioma

As we have as of now talked about the mesothelioma, it's each other type of growth that happens in the mesothelium, a thin layer incorporating the body's pit and inner organs. Mesothelioma is really a lung growth which is brought about by the asbestos exposures. 

At the point when the casualty take a shot at the asbestos introduction destinations and when they accidently breathe in the asbestos filaments through the mouth or nose the strands of the asbestos in the end get to be distinctly inserted in the coating of the lungs, bringing about extremely destructive consequences for the human body as mesothelioma or asbestosis that scar tissue development in the lungs

Equity IN COURT OF LAW BY HIRING MESOTHELIOMA LAW FIRM

In the event that you are feeling windedness and experiencing difficulty ingesting nourishment, it may be the sign of Mesothelioma. One ought to contact the specialist and furthermore legal counselors on the grounds that them two are important to set up the relationship between's the ailment and asbestos. 

Legal counselors may record claim against the organization in charge of polluting nature with asbestos and making hurt the laborers. Dominant part of individuals in the nation do get presented to asbestos in their every day lives, along these lines one ought to employ the expert who is adjust in dealing with comparative issues. 

Concentrate on quality: 

Fledglings may decide on the principal attorney they can lay their hands on however it is an immense slip-up and can bring about heaps of issues as poor outcomes. 

Discover the contact of the rumored Canadian legal counselors with a faultless reputation. Know about the tall cases from the lesser known experts since they may guarantee you the moon yet convey far not as much as desires. 

It is vital to appreciate the usefulness of the attorney. Gifted specialists would direct nitty gritty research on the issue of the patient and recognize whether the wellspring of the infection is asbestos. 

The cases of the general population are against the asbestos makes that were kicked out of the present day business because of slew of cases however the cash is acquired from the liquidation subsidize made by the experts 

In the event that you are experiencing Mesothelioma and worked in past with asbestos industry, it is profoundly likely that you may win the remuneration as the substance is known to bring about malignancy and different sorts of life debilitating infections. Consistently a large number of individuals are biting the dust because of contamination however just few papers know about the nearness of specific lawful help to collect the imperative sum. Reaching Mesothelioma law office Canada can build the possibilities of winning the case anyway one ought to do the home work legitimately before pushing forward on the way of contention

MESOTHELIOMA & ASBESTOS LAWYERS BY MANTU

MESOTHELIOMA & ASBESTOS LAWYERS BY MANTU

Mesothelioma and Asbestos Lawyers Successful asbestos ligation requires a legal counselor who understands the various components of the case, from how people get introduced to asbestos to the state-by-state controls about recording cases, to the fragile method for various clients. Routinely, people who make a few inquiries an asbestos-related claim are people who are in like manner adjusting to mesothelioma development and all the medicinal issues that go with treatment. Picking a lawful counselor to address you in declarations and in genuine filings can be as fundamental to your family's future as picking the right pro. In case were you displayed to asbestos and you turned out to be sick appropriately, you have a benefit to state some specialist for compensation. The dangers and noxious nature of asbestos

ASBESTOS MESOTHELIOMA ATTORNEY LAWYER & LAW FIRM DIRECTORY

Asbestos Mesothelioma Attorney Lawyer and Law Firm Directory are recorded in order arrange. Every mesothelioma law office , legal counselor or lawyer is recorded in the Asbestos Mesothelioma Attorney Lawyer and Law Firm Directory as indicated by the mesothelioma lawyer's , legal advisor's or law office's physical office areas inside the USA. 

The majority of the mesothelioma lawyers legal advisors and law offices in the Asbestos Mesothelioma Attorney Lawyer and Law Firm Directory offers a free , no commitment mesothelioma case audit and every mesothelioma lawyer legal counselor and law office offer broad data on all parts of mesothelioma . 

The lion's share of mesothelioma lawyers legal counselors and law offices recorded in the Asbestos Mesothelioma Attorney Lawyer and Law Firm Directory offer a possibility charge premise. Thusly no lawful charges or costs are paid to your mesothelioma lawyer, legal advisor , or law office unless you get pay for your mesothelioma asbestos case . 

We have recorded numerous national mesothelioma Lawyers and Law Firms

Mesothelioma and Asbestos Lawyers by mantu

Mesothelioma and Asbestos Lawyers by mantu

who gets you the cash you merit through a claim, VA handicap claim or asbestos trust supports that hold almost $40 billion for individuals like you.

Once the basic stagger of a mesothelioma conclusion has passed, patients and loved ones are every now and again left considering how they can hold up under the cost of healing facility costs, lost wages and other cash related hardships. Picking the right mesothelioma lawyer to address you is a fundamental introductory stage in ensuring your family's money related future. 

When looking for the right mesothelioma legitimate counselor, you should find some individual with the going with qualities: 

• Has a foundation set apart by achievement with asbestos claims 
• Can reveal each one of your decisions to you 
• Is understanding with you and your family 
• Will manage the methodology the distance 
• Thinks about various streets of pay open to you 

In case you get a kick out of the chance to avoid the honest to goodness course, you may possess all the necessary qualities for various sorts of budgetary offer assistance. Bankrupt asbestos associations have set aside about $40 billion to compensate people resolved to have asbestos-related contaminations. On the off chance that you're a military veteran, you can record an inadequacy ensure with the U.S. Division of Veterans Affairs

 A TOP-NOTCH TEAM FOR TREATMENT AND BEYOND

Your trip into the universe of mesothelioma likely started with a normal exam at your essential care specialist's office. Possibly you had a hack that just wouldn't leave, or you continued encountering new trunk agonies or shortness of breath. You were dependable, proactive and set up an arrangement, and all of a sudden, your standard exam unfurled into a bad dream. 

Presently outfitted with a conclusion, you can get treatment from oncologists who represent considerable authority in mesothelioma and other naturally procured illnesses like asbestosis. It is vital that you feel great in view of your oncologist, yet keep that a rough bedside way may misrepresent the splendid personality of an exploration virtuoso. Searching out a moment or third conclusion in your journey for the best, life-drawing out treatment accessible to you is justifiable while going up against a mesothelioma determination. 

When you have picked your oncologist, you and your specialist will set forward a treatment plan that obliges your condition, way of life and visualization. Radiation medications, chemotherapy and option solution all have indispensable parts in the arms stockpile of mesothelioma weaponry. What you and your treatment group choose to do will mirror your own particular one of a kind medicinal circumstance

Why Is It Important to Hire an Experienced Asbestos Lawyer

An asbestos lawyer who spends significant time in these cases has the learning, assets and experience you requirement for such an essential undertaking. Since each case is distinctive, your legal counselor will work with you to clarify the sorts of remuneration accessible for your particular circumstance.

Nationals Mesothelioma & Asbestos Law Firm by mantu

 Nationals Mesothelioma & Asbestos Law Firm

With experience you can place stock in, Early, Schiaparelli, Sweeney and Monotheist is a the nation over firm gave exclusively to addressing losses in mesothelioma claims. Having more than two numerous times of asbestos law experience, we address in excess of one thousand eight hundred setbacks of asbestos sickness in their collections of confirmation against the asbestos business. We are starting at now approved to sharpen in: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Washington, D.C. moreover, have developed close working relationship with honest to goodness mesothelioma legal advisers all through the United States. Tap on a state underneath to get information about recording a mesothelioma assert in your state.

• It has in like manner asked for that the associations offer compensation to the setbacks who have kept up introduction to the asbestos and the compensation should be offered by the restorative need of the loss. 
• Since this law has been passed and number of mesothelioma cases has persevered. As of late more than 5000 people have passed on because of mesothelioma, numerous people have requested of for damages and pay on the grounds of mesothelioma. 
• The courts generally speaking give decision in the support of the setbacks and asked for associations to reimburse the losses. In case you are a loss of mesothelioma then you ought to find an adroit legitimate guide who is ace in the field of mesothelioma asbestos and understand the perplexities required in such cases.

Documenting a Mesothelioma Lawsuit

To start the path toward searching for compensation for a mesothelioma client, ELSM begins with a brief at an early stage meeting. In the midst of this meeting, a legal advisor from ELSM will design the diverse steps of the legitimate methodology; address any request or concerns you may have related to the legal technique; and discuss the courses in which a mesothelioma client has been displayed to asbestos. 

After this at an early stage meeting, ELSM will tackle your advantage to assemble all diagnosing remedial reports from the therapeutic workplaces where you were managed. Under the watchful eye of a mesothelioma claim is archived, ELSM plays out a comprehensive work history examination of the broke down gathering. ELSM will accumulate work history records, including, union records, military organization records, and distinctive files to substantiate business history. Despite meeting the mesothelioma client, ELSM will in like manner recognize any potential relatives, partners, and other thing ID witnesses who can help with giving bits of knowledge about the work history and potential asbestos introduction for the circumstance. 

After we have completed a cautious thing unmistakable verification and work history examination, our next walk is to recognize potential recoveries through asbestos trusts. Different associations have yielded past asbestos commitment and have set up asbestos trusts to reimburse mesothelioma clients who display qualifying claims. ELSM thinks about these asbestos trusts and their necessities for productive cases settlement. By and large, pay through these trusts happens respectably quickly tolerating your particular case meets each trust's presentation criteria.

Guess and Survival of Mesothelioma Patients

At the point when determined to have mesothelioma, the anticipation is normally poor, as there is no cure for the sickness, and commonly it is found at a late phase of advancement. By and large, the prior mesothelioma is analyzed, the better anticipation a patient has.

Mesothelioma Treatment

Once determined to have mesothelioma, a patient will probably need to visit with an assortment of pros. These visits may require go, as the quantity of specialists who concentrate on mesothelioma is fairly little. There are likewise some disease focuses committed particularly to mesothelioma treatment and research. 

Mesothelioma Doctors 

• Oncologists 
• Oncologists are specialists who concentrate on anticipating, diagnosing, and treating growth. Since the most well-known sort of mesothelioma is pleura mesothelioma, the greater part of patients will work with a thoracic oncologist, who spends significant time in tumors that shape in the trunk. 
• Mesothelioma Cancer Centers 
• Malignancy Clinics 
• Mesothelioma facilities and malignancy focuses all through the nation offer patients an approach to get the most far reaching care, regularly utilizing the most recent innovation and procedures accessible. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network assigns these focuses as showing fatuousness in disease mind.

Mesothelioma Law Firm by mantu

Mesothelioma Law by mantu

For a significant long time, mesothelioma, a presence crippling disease that can impact the lungs, mid-area, and a couple of other genuine organs, has been associated with postponed prologue to asbestos, realizing numerous people searching for a mesothelioma law office to get value and help them take care of the stunning costs related with the contamination. 

Commonly, mesothelioma setbacks were displayed to asbestos while working at an occupation site that used asbestos-containing materials (ACMs). When in doubt, the makers of asbestos and ACMs thought about the covered hazards and risks of asbestos, yet fail to enlighten general society, as asbestos was a to an awesome degree helpful mineral. Accordingly of the hindrance of information, workers who made restorative issues from asbestos presentation may be fit the bill for financial pay to take care of expenses, for instance, lost wages, specialist's visit costs, excited continuing, physical anguish, and that is quite recently the start.

What Does a Mesothelioma Law Firm

Law workplaces work in mesothelioma are one of a kind in connection to whatever other sort of law office. In spite of the fact that distinctive firms may have some mastery in regions like car accidents or nursing home misuse, mesothelioma law workplaces focus chiefly on mesothelioma and diverse asbestos-related ailments. It's not recommended to hold legitimate depiction from a general give lawful advice firm or even an individual harm firm that invests noteworthy energy in a wide show of mischief cases. You'll require a legal advisor who especially works in mesothelioma cases, as these sorts of cases are to an extraordinary degree mind boggling and require tremendous, all around perception of asbestos introduction and diseases. 

Attorneys at these law workplaces have data and involvement with respect to government and state laws concerning asbestos use and its history in the workforce. They also have sharp investigative aptitudes and can tunnel significant to uncover when and where associations and in addition distinctive substances introduced pros to asbestos. In addition, these law workplaces are contained trained legal counselors who appreciate the legal methodology including courts, trials, settlements, and solicitations. 

What's more, a proficient firm fathoms that the setback is starting at now adequately persevering in light of the restorative and money related issues related with asbestos-related diseases. In this way, the firm will manage most everything as to the claim, including engaging for the true blue benefits of the client, conversing with witnesses, gaining therapeutic history, suit, and the sky is the cutoff from that point. 

An expert law office moreover fathoms the genuine enthusiastic impact that living with mesothelioma brings, to setbacks, and to relatives and loved ones too. A conventional firm considers and encourages the brains of losses and their loved ones all through this continuing method.

Making Things Easier

Despite the fact that a law office will do the lion's share of your case work, it's dependably a smart thought to be arranged and make things less demanding so that the procedure makes history quicker. 

To begin with, try to assemble your medicinal records, including when and where you were analyzed, and convey this data to your underlying meeting. This will permit the firm to figure out whether your case can be gone up against. 

Next, be set up to give the law office your work history and data including the full organization name, address, telephone number, your occupation part, and to what extent you worked there. 

At long last, begin monitoring all costs utilized relating to your illness.

In what capacity Can a Law Firm Personally Help Me?

• Confirm Related to Your Exposure: Once you furnish the law office with your work data, they ought to have the capacity to research and decide how asbestos was utilized at your work environment. Now and again, they may as of now have the data accessible. 
• In the event that You Truly Have an Asbestos Claim: Asbestos law offices comprehend what's required with a specific end goal to have a genuine asbestos guarantee. With this learning, they can decide how solid your case is and what the evaluated chances are that you'll win. Most lawyers ensure they're certain about your case before taking it on. Be careful about any lawyer who guarantees to take your case without knowing any of the subtle elements or a lawyer who claims they can get you a correct measure of pay before checking on your case. 
• Your Case Worth: If the firm chooses you have an asbestos case, they will then have the capacity to think of a normal figure of how much your case is worth. This is including past costs, day by day costs, hospital expenses, lost wages, enthusiastic injury, physical enduring, future costs, and a great deal more. Remember, be that as it may, that there is no set recipe in the matter of how much your honor sum might be. The previously mentioned variables, alongside different points of interest, for example, if your previous organization has a trust finance set up or not, will likewise become an integral factor.

The Consequences of TrumpMedical 2016–25: Price Increases, Aging Push Sector To 20 Percent Of Economy

Workers' Compensation medical expenses mirror some of the national health care projections. An aging workforce and the increased longevity of the population impacts overall all costs. Furthermore as the Affordable Healthcare Act's repeal has been anticipated by the Republican Administration, medical care costs are anticipated to spiral. The draft release of the Republican proposal for a new national medical care system is now being revealed.

Directly and indirectly, workers' compensation coverage will feel the impact. For chronic condition denials, pre-existing condition denials and occupational disease denials, the safety net of Medicaid will be diminished and the workers' compensation system will again be the primary target for payment and litigation will increase logarithmically.

A recent report reflects the concerns of the new data:

"Under current law, national health expenditures are projected to grow at an average annual rate of 5.6 percent for 2016–25 and represent 19.9 percent of gross domestic product by 2025. For 2016, national health expenditure growth is anticipated to have slowed 1.1 percentage points to 4.8 percent, as a result of slower Medicaid and prescription drug spending growth. For the rest of the projection period, faster projected growth in medical prices is partly offset by slower projected growth in the use and intensity of medical goods and services, relative to that observed in 2014–16 associated with the Affordable Care Act coverage expansions. The insured share of the population is projected to increase from 90.9 percent in 2015 to 91.5 percent by 2025.

Additional findings from the report data:

Total national health spending growth: Growth is projected to have been 4.8 percent in 2016, slower than the 5.8 percent growth in 2015, as a result of slower Medicaid and prescription drug spending growth. In 2017, total health spending is projected to grow by 5.4 percent, led by increases in private health insurance spending. National health expenditure growth is projected to be faster and average 5.8 percent for 2018-2025 largely due to expected faster spending growth in both Medicare and Medicaid.

Medicare: Medicare spending growth is projected to have been 5.0 percent in 2016 and is expected to average 7.1 percent over the full projection period 2016-2025. Faster expected growth after 2016 primarily reflects utilization of Medicare covered services increasing to approach rates closer to Medicare’s longer historical experience. This results in Medicare spending per beneficiary growth of 4.1 percent over 2016-2025 (compared to 1.6 percent growth for 2010-2015).

Private health insurance: Spending growth is projected to have slowed from 7.2 percent in 2015 to 5.9 percent in 2016, a trend that is related to slower growth in private health insurance enrollment. Spending growth is projected to increase to 6.5 percent in 2017, due in part to faster premium growth in Marketplace plans related to previous underpricing of premiums and the end of the temporary risk corridors.

Medicaid: Projected spending growth slowed significantly in 2016 to 3.7 percent, down from 9.7 percent in 2015, largely reflecting slower growth in Medicaid enrollment. Spending growth is expected to accelerate and average 5.7 percent for 2017-2025 as projected per-enrollee spending growth rises over that timeframe. Underlying the faster per enrollee growth is the increasingly larger share of the Medicaid population who are aged and disabled and who tend to use more intensive services.

Medical price inflation: Medical prices are expected to increase more rapidly after historically low growth in 2015 of 0.8 percent to nearly 3 percent by 2025. This faster projected growth in prices is influenced by an acceleration in both economy-wide prices and medical specific prices and is projected to be partially offset by slowing growth in the use and intensity of medical goods and services.

Prescription drug spending: Drug spending growth is projected to have been 5.0 percent in 2016, following growth of 9.0 percent in 2015, mainly due to slowing use of expensive drugs that treat Hepatitis C. Growth is projected to average 6.4 percent per year for 2017-2025, influenced by higher spending on expensive specialty drugs.

Insured Share of the Population: The proportion of the population with health insurance is projected to increase from 90.9 percent in 2015 to 91.5 percent in 2025.

Professional Liability Policy Rescinded For Failure to Provide Notice

A US District Court ruled that a professional liability insurance company was permitted to rescind an attorney's policy for lack of notice. The attorney was instructed to appeal a workers' compensation claim and failed to do so on a timely basis, and did not provide notice to the professional liability insurance carrier under the terms of the policy, or in renewal applications, or when when requested on five occasions.

Liberty Mutual Underwriters, Inc., v Wolfe, et al., Civ. No. 16-2353 (WHW)(CLW) Decided 02/03/2017 (USDCT D.NJ) Unreported 2017 WL 481468

Accelerated Justice Is Problematic on Appeal

Workers' Compensation matters were intended by the legislature to be summary and remedial actions. Accelerated justice does have its consequences on appeal, and should be implemented prudently.

In an effort to move case dockets at a quicker pace, New Jersey implemented an accelerated award procedure, "a trial on reports," that allowed for the disposition of cases at the pre-trial conference stage. It was to be utilized either by the consent of the parties where the only issue presented was the nature and extend of permanent disability. "If the parties waive all issues except the nature and extent of disability and if the right of cross-examination has not been or is not asserted, then a judge of compensation may enter a judgment as to the nature and extent of disability at the time of the pre-trial conference." Jon Gelman, Workers Compensation Law, 39 NJ Practice Series 25.4.

One of the adverse consequences of such a proceeding is a very limited record on review. Litigation usually provides the opportunity of cross-examination. The use of an "trial on reports" results in the waiver of the opportunity to cross-examine medical exports. 

In a recent unreported case, the Appellate Court reviewing the record below on a "trial on reports," was limited to the record below, petitioner's testimony, petitioner's medical reports and the parties' expert reports. On appeal, the petitioner appeared, pro se. The decision below was affirmed. 

The Court opined, "We have considered petitioner's arguments in light of the hearing record, including the documentary exhibits, and applicable legal principles. Our review leads us to conclude the judge of compensation's decision is supported by sufficient credible evidence on the record as a whole. Petitioner's arguments are without sufficient merit to warrant discussion in a written opinion. R. 2:11-3(e)(1)(D) and (E)." Sondhi v Tropicana Hotel and Casino, DOCKET NO. A-0574-15T1, 2017 WL 563311 (NJ App Div 2017) Decided 2/13/17.

Many other jurisdictions provide the opportunity to take the depositions of the medical experts and to utilize the transcripts as evidence at the time of the trial. Perhaps, while the rules permit their use in NJ, such evidence should be a key factor in preparation of a case for trial, even if the only issue is merely "the nature and extent of permanent disability."

Note this is an unreported decision: "This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R.1:36-3."

…

Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters). 

For over 4 decades theLaw Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  has been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Occupational Exposure to Lead Continues to be a Serious Health Issue

The California Department of Health has reported that the workers' occupational exposure to lead continues to be a serious public health issue.

"According to a report released in January by the California Department of Public Health, more than 6,000 California workers have elevated levels of lead in their blood. Health problems from lead exposure include heart disease, reproductive problems, cognitive difficulties and kidney failure. 

"From 2012 to 2014, 38,440 workers had their blood tested for lead, and 6,051 workers were identified with an elevated level of 5 or more micrograms of lead per deciliter (about 3.3 ounces) of blood. Workers with the highest blood lead levels — 40 micrograms or more per deciliter — mostly worked at shooting ranges or in ammunition manufacturing, gun repair, and firearm instruction, although some worked in other metal industries, painting and construction.

One of the most common health problems for American children today is lead poisoning. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has indicated that lead poisoning is entirely preventable. Our office has joined with other law firms to dedicate our efforts to the victims of childhood lead poisoning. In this effort we work with leading national researchers, including geochemists, psychiatrists, toxicologist, pediatric neurologists and neuropsychiatrists to assist our clients who suffer from lead poisoning.

Lead is absorbed into the bodies of small children more easily than adults. Human beings are exposed to lead through the ingestion of lead chips, dust, soil and various other means. When lead is ingested by children six years old or younger, the effects are most serious and they effect detrimentally the brains of children that are in developmental stages. Studies have shown that lead, even at low levels, is a neurotoxin and can cause permanent brain damage.

Lead exposure can pose serious dangers to pregnant women and industrial workers. Exposure to battery plants and lead smelters that use lead in their processing may also expose workers and children to dangerous levels of lead. Painters and workers with occupations involving welding, soldering, the chemical industry, foundries, gasoline refineries and the copper industry may bring dust home from the workplace resulting in secondhand exposure and poisoning to children.

Lead exposure occurs in both industrial and occupational exposures also. There is exposure to lead in battery plants and lead smelters they utilize lead in their processing. Adult workers may be exposed and children may be exposed to dangerous levels through the household contact of their parents. Painters and workers involved in occupational industries such as welding, soldering, the chemical industry, boundaries, gasoline refineries and that copper industry may transport landed home and expose their household contacts.

Click here to read the complete report. "Blood Lead Levels in California Workers." 

Click here to read more about "Lead Litigation."

…

Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters). 

For over 4 decades theLaw Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  has been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Gorsuch, Chevron and Workplace Law

Today's guest post is authored by Jon Rehm, Esq. of the Nebraska Bar.

Employers and their attorneys are widely hailing President Trump’s nomination of 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court. Part of the reason that management-side lawyers are praising Gorsuch is his position on Chevron deference. Gorsuch’s views on Chevron could affect how workplace laws are interpreted and how they apply to workers.

Chevron deference is a legal rule that a court will give the benefit of the doubt about the interpretation of the law to how the executive agency charged with enforcing that law understands the law. Gorsuch has criticized Chevron on separation of powers basis, stating that Chevron deference gives too much power to the executive branch at the expense of the legislative and judiciary branches. Recently, government agencies have been interpreting employment laws in a way that is more favorable toward employees. Recent rules issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act are a prime example.

Many workers who get hurt on the job are told that they must come back to work with no restrictions. Chevron deference could be a powerful legal tool for workers faced with such policies. The new EEOC regulations on the ADA outlaw 100-percent-healed policies or policies that require plaintiffs to return to work without restrictions. In the EEOC guidance on the issue, the EEOC cites Kaufman v. Peterson Health Care VII, LLC 769 F. 3d 958 (7th Cir. 2014) as an example of policies that they believe to be unlawful under ADAAA. This case represents a subtle but real shift from current 8th Circuit law as stated in Fjellestad v. Pizza Hut of America, 188 F. 3d 949, 951-952 (8th Cir. 1999) where the 8th Circuit joined other federal circuits that held that failure to engage in an interactive process in accommodating a disability was not per se discrimination, and that there was no duty to engage in the interactive process. The EEOC’s interpretations of the new regulations still require that a plaintiff be able to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation.

But as indicated by Kaufman, courts may be less likely to dismiss cases before trial, or in legal terminology, to grant summary judgment, on the issue of whether a plaintiff could perform the essential functions of the job with or without accommodation if the defendant does not engage in an interactive process or summarily decides that an employee should not be allowed to return without restrictions.

The fact that there is a split between regional appellate courts, a so-called circuit split, over “100 percent healed” policies increases the chances that the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether 100-percent-healed policies violate the ADA. Another issue where there is a circuit split that the U.S. Supreme Court will decide is the legality of mandatory arbitration clauses in employment agreements.

Many workers unwittingly give up their rights to have employment-law disputes heard in court when they agree to mandatory arbitration clauses as a term of employment. In D.R. Horton Inc., 357 N.L.B. No 184 (2012) the National Labor Relations Board ruled that mandatory arbitration clauses prohibited Fair Labor Standards Act collective action cases because they interfered with protected concerted activity under 29 U.S.C. §157 and 29 U.S.C. § 158. In Lewis v. Epic Systems, 823 F. 3d 1147, 1154 (7th Cir. 2016), the 7th Circuit struck down a mandatory arbitration clause partly based on giving Chevron deference to the NLRB’s decision in D.R. Horton. The 9thCircuit agreed with the 7th Circuit in Morris v. Ernst and Young, LLP, No 13-16599 (Aug. 22, 2016). Unfortunately for plaintiffs, the 8th Circuit disagreed with the D.R. Horton decision in Owen v. Bristol Care, 702 F. 3d 1050 (8th Cir. 2013).

If confirmed, Gorsuch would be unlikely to give much weight to the opinions of the EEOC or NLRB in interpreting employment laws. Chevron deference is an unpopular concept with pro-business conservatives. Recently, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives passed legislation that, if enacted, would abolish Chevron deference.

Conversely, Chevron deference is a popular concept with progressive employee and civil-rights advocates, as it allowed the Obama administration to expand employee protections in the face of a hostile Congress. But with the advent of the Trump administration and his immigration policies, progressives have a newfound appreciation for separation of powers.

Also, employee advocates probably will not like many of the new rules and regulations issued by Trump appointees such as Labor Secretary nominee Larry Puzder. A prospective abolition of Chevron could be helpful to challenging rules made by a Trump administration. An example from the last Republican administration is instructive. In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court in Long Island Care at Home Ltd. v. Coke, 551 U.S. 158 (2007) gave Chevron deference to Bush administration rules to exclude home health aides from coverage under the FLSA. It was nine years later that the rule was overturned, giving Chevron deference to Obama administration rules regarding home health aides and the FLSA.

FELA: US Supreme Court to Review Personal Jurisdiction Criteria

The United States Supreme Court will review the merits of a case involving the personal jurisdiction criteria of a FELA case.

"Issue: Whether a state court may decline to follow the Supreme Court's decision in Daimler AG v. Bauman, which held that the due process clause forbids a state court from exercising general personal jurisdiction over a defendant that is not at home in the forum state, in a suit against an American defendant under the Federal Employers' Liability Act."

QUESTION PRESENTED:

In Daimler AG u. Bauman, 134 S. Ct. 746 (2014), this Court held that the Due Process Clause forbids a state court from exercising general personal jurisdiction except where the defendant is "at home." BNSF Railway Company is not at home in Montana under Daimler , yet the Montana Supreme Court held that BNSF is subject to general personal jurisdiction in Montana, and can be sued there by out-of-state plaintiffs for claims that have no connection at all to the state. The Montana Supreme Court explicitly "declined" to apply this Court's decision in Daimler , for two reasons:

• First, because the facts of this case involve American parties and arose in the United States, not foreign parties and an overseas injury as in Daimler. 
• Second, because the plaintiffs here sued under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), which is a different federal cause of action from the ones at issue in Daimler. Section 56 of FELA establishes venue for cases filed in federal court, and it provides for concurrent subject-matter jurisdiction in state courts. Yet the Montana Supreme Court held that this provision authorizes state courts to exercise personal jurisdiction, and that the statute overrides the limitations of the Due Process Clause. 

The question presented is: Whether a state court may decline to follow this Court's decision in Daimler AG u. Bauman, which held that the Due Process Clause forbids a state court from exercising general personal jurisdiction over a defendant that is not at home in the forum state, in a suit against an American defendant under the Federal Employers' Liability Act.

Click here to read the complete US Supreme Court Docket -- BNSF Railway Co. v. Tyrrell 16-405

Click here to read the SOCTUS Blog Post and the pleadings filed.

The Promise of State Initiatives to Prevent Long Term Work Disability

Every year, millions of Americans suffer from medical conditions that affect their ability to work. This puts them at risk of losing their jobs or being forced to rely on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). States could help many of these workers stay in their jobs, but promising options for doing this remain largely untested. The five states with state-mandated short-term disability benefits— California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island—are promising settings for such tests.

Seminar: Feb 23, 2017 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Location Online

On February 23, from 12:00–1:30 p.m. (ET) Mathematica’s Center for Studying Disability Policy (CSDP) will host a live webinar. A panel of experts from Mathematica, Sedgwick, and the state of California will discuss the promise of state-based systems from the perspectives of researchers, policymakers, and practitioners. Reporting on studies of state disability insurance (SDI) and workers’ compensation (WC) systems in California and Rhode Island, our speakers will present new evidence on:

• The risk of SSDI entry for SDI and WC claimants
• The extent to which initial data on the characteristics of SDI or WC claimants can be used to predict their risk of entering SSDI
• The availability and utilization of return-to-work supports in state SDI and WC systems
• How states, including those without SDI, could help workers keep their jobs, maintain their economic independence, and save billions of taxpayer dollars

The panel of experts includes:
David Mann, Mathematica
Yonatan Ben-Shalom, Mathematica
David Stapleton, Mathematica
Teresa Bartlett, Sedgwick CMS
Jennifer Richard, California Assembly Labor and Employment Committee

Chaos in Workers' Compensation - Raising Medicare's Eligibility Age to 67

A new issue for workers' compensation programs is  emerging as  the Republicans push forward on their legislative agenda to reform Medicare. Uncertainty over the impact of raising the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67 may seriously and adversely impact the nation's network of fragile workers' compensation schemes. Furthermore, looming in the background is also the elimination of The Affordable Care Act and the consequence of a large pool of uninsured again seniors.

The workers' compensation system has been challenged by an aging universe of working seniors who bring to the table pre-existing and co-existing medical conditions that impact theories of occupational causal relationships and state workers' compensation law reforms involving prior functional loss. 

The Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Act may have a lightened load to one side of the scale. On the other side will be the elimination of a strong safety-net resulting in a major increase in the litigation of medical benefits and the end of cost-shifting by employers and their insurance companies onto the nations taxpayers.

A recently published study brings the issue out into the open and discuss the adverse consequences of raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67.

"Raising Medicare’s eligibility age to 67—featured in Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s plan, “A Better Way: Health Care”—has gained renewed support in the current political environment.[ Research conducted by the Actuarial Research Corporation (ARC) for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare Foundation provides compelling evidence that suggests this would not be a “better way,” either for the health of Americans aged 65 and 66 or for the financial health of the institutions that provide care for them."

Click here to read the entire article.

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters). 

For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  has been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Made by a robot...driven by a computer

The workers' compensation scheme is being challenged to potential extinction by the workplace in which it was created decades ago. Stressed by economic challenges that have been fueled by globalization and technology, workers' compensation benefit programs are now being dismantled by historic reforms that attack the core philosophical  principles of its very existence. 

The evolving dynamic of the world's automobile industry provides a focus on the new economy where goods are made by robots and operated by a computer.

“Nobody knows how the world is going to look” in the coming years, said Mr. Harms, a bearded 41-year-old dressed in a gray cardigan over a crisply pressed white shirt. “The biggest skill you have to have is the ability to change.”

****

“I am convinced that we are going to see more change in the next 10 or 15 years than we have seen in the last 100 years,” Peter Schwarzenbauer, a member of the BMW management board, said in a telephone interview. “The big question is always, Do we car manufacturers learn to become tech companies more quickly than a tech company learns to be an automotive player?” 

Click here to read the entire article.  German Automakers Step Up to Silicon Valley Challenge (NY Times)

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters). 

For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  has been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Related articles about technology and workers' compensation:

Workers' Compensation: Insurance Company Plans to Track ... Jan 9, 2016 ... “AIG's embrace of innovative, disruptive technologies is opening new ways for us to strategically partner with our clients,” said Mr. Schimek. idoctor-health.blogspot.com

Workers' Compensation: Does Workers' Compensation Really Have ... Mar 21, 2015 ... Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, and his team never disappoints with the rollout of amazing new technology. Even the non-believers will be enthralled. idoctor-health.blogspot.com

Workers' Compensation: New Biomarkers Discovered for ... Sep 30, 2010 ... Using a novel aptamer-based proteomics array technology, researchers and collaborators have identified biomarkers and protein signatures ... idoctor-health.blogspot.com

Workers' Compensation: Distracted Driving Accidents Echo ... Sep 7, 2011 ... "As cell phone technology improved, texting while driving, which necessitates taking one's eyes off the road, also became a major concern. idoctor-health.blogspot.com

Hearing Loss Remains a Significant Problem at Work

Today's post is shared from the cdc.gov:

"Noise-induced hearing loss is a significant, often unrecognized health problem among U.S. adults. Discussions between patients and personal health care providers about hearing loss symptoms, tests, and ways to protect hearing might help with early diagnosis of hearing loss and provide opportunities to prevent harmful noise exposures. Avoiding prolonged exposure to loud environments and using personal hearing protection devices can prevent noise-induced hearing loss."

Noise-induced hearing loss is a significant health problem among U.S. adults, is more prevalent among males, and increases with age. Persons with auditory damage caused by noise frequently do not recognize it; one in four U.S. adults who reported excellent or good hearing had an audiometric notch. Among persons who reported work exposure to loud noise, one third had a bilateral or unilateral notch.

Noise exposure is the second most common cause of acquired hearing loss (after aging). An estimated 24% of hearing loss in the United States has been attributed to workplace exposures. Noise exposure is associated with numerous adverse health effects, and reducing noise exposure is likely to improve health. A recent study suggested that reducing environmental noise exposure might save lives by decreasing the prevalence of cardiovascular heart disease (10). Avoiding exposure to loud environments and effective use of personal hearing protection devices (earplugs or earmuffs) have been shown to prevent hearing loss. Evidence also exists that stronger occupational regulation leads to decreased noise levels . Persons who already have impaired hearing from noise exposure can benefit from clinical rehabilitation, such as amplification through hearing aids, learning to read lips, and other compensation strategies. Use of technology, such as smart phone apps to measure sound level, provides new ways of informing decisions and actions.

Noise reduction and avoidance can prevent hearing loss or slow its progression. This can be accomplished by avoiding high volumes on personal listening devices; reducing listening time to high volumes of music; taking breaks from exposure; requesting lower volumes in public settings (restaurants, movie theaters); using quieter products (e.g., household appliances, power tools, recreational vehicles); reducing equipment noise by replacing worn or unbalanced machine parts; moving as far as possible from the loudest sound-producing source, such as loudspeakers or cannons at college stadiums; and using hearing protection devices ). Hearing protectors need to fit well to reduce noise exposure effectively.

Noise exposure at younger ages needs particular attention. Damage to hearing accumulates over time so that hazardous exposure that begins earlier in life has the potential to be more damaging as persons age. The high prevalence of audiometric notches (one in five) among persons aged 20–29 years suggests that early life interventions need to be developed.

Hearing screenings can help reduce delays in diagnosis and improve access to hearing aids for those with hearing loss, thus improving health-related quality of life, yet a 2014 report found that only 46.0% of adults who had any trouble hearing had seen a health care professional about their hearing in the past 5 years (5). Hearing loss often progresses for years before being self-perceived or diagnosed. Talking to one’s personal health care provider about hearing loss symptoms, tests, and ways to protect hearing, might support early diagnosis and access to hearing rehabilitation if needed.

During routine exams, primary care providers can examine patients’ hearing; ask about patients’ hearing and noise exposures and inform them about the benefits of hearing protection; monitor patients with hearing loss symptoms, recommend or provide hearing tests when indicated; and counsel patients with hearing loss. Studies indicate, however, that 40%–77% of primary care providers have not asked about or screened for hearing loss. Patients reporting hearing-related symptoms or risk factors such as noise exposure need to be referred for objective hearing assessment., Although there is currently a lack of data to support the benefits of regular hearing screening in adults aged >50 years, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) recommends that adults be screened at least every decade through age 50 years and every 3 years thereafter. Healthy People 2020 includes objectives to increase the proportion of adults who have had a hearing examination in the past 5 years and to increase the number referred by their health care provider for hearing evaluation and treatment.

Although there are no federal regulations regarding exposure to nonoccupational noise, a 1974 Environmental Protections Agency report identified 70 dB over 24 hours (75 dB over 8 hours) as the average exposure limit for intermittent environmental noise. World Health Organization (WHO) 1999 Guidelines for Community Noise recommend avoiding noise exposure levels that exceed 70 dB(A) over a 24-hour period or 85 dB(A) over a 1-hour period. CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has established an 8-hour, time-weighted average 85 dB(A) recommended exposure limit to protect most workers from developing hearing loss from noise exposure over a 40-year career. However, at that sound pressure level [85 dB(A) time-weighted average], approximately 8% of workers could still develop hearing loss, and thus NIOSH recommends that hearing protection be worn whenever noise levels exceed 85 dB(A), regardless of the length of exposure.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and WHO are raising awareness about noise-induced hearing loss. DHHS is collecting data on hearing status and risk factors, as well as developing guidelines on hearing aids. WHO is developing guidelines on noise exposure. Other public entities, such as states and counties, partner with community groups to reduce noisy environments and use evidence to inform policies that decrease noise exposures. Other ways to reduce environmental noise exposure include using sound-absorbent materials in office buildings and public venues, erecting highway barriers, and passing noise ordinances. Managers and owners of public venues can decrease the loudest sound levels at those locations to help decrease noise exposure.

Click here to read the complete article.

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters). 

For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  has been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Related Articles:

Exposure to Cadmium and Lead Linked to Hearing Loss Aug 6, 2012 ... Workers suffering from noise-induced hearing loss may also experience continual ringing in the ears, called "tinnitus". In addition, workers who ... idoctor-health.blogspot.com

Workers' Compensation: Passive Noise is Hazardous to Your Health Jul 20, 2012 ... Workers suffering from noise-induced hearing loss may also experience continual ringing in the ears, called "tinnitus". In addition, workers who ... idoctor-health.blogspot.com

Building A Workers' Compensation System That Works Jan 24, 2009 ... Hearing calendars have been reduced because of lack of personnel to ... ( among other changes) The In 1995 Act 1 reformed the hearing loss ... idoctor-health.blogspot.com

Workers' Compensation: Toxic Lead Exposure Results in OSHA ... Mar 29, 2013 ... "OSHA's standards must be followed to protect workers from exposure that can lead to lead-related illness and occupational hearing loss.". idoctor-health.blogspot.com