We previously reported on the changes to the Workers’ Comp Act made in October 2008 (following a string of articles in the news railing against the NJ WC system) that created an ’emergent motion’ for Med & Temp when a claimant is alleged to suffer ‘irreparable harm’ of medical care is denied by the employer.
According to figures provided by Chief Judge Calderone and revealed at the 2009 Workers’ Compensation Conference (held May 15th at the Borgata in Atlantic City) only 31 ‘Emergent’ motions were filed since the passage of the law. Of those 31 motions, only 11 were found to have met the criteria of ‘irreparable harm’ required to be considered ’emergent’ by the Courts.
Figures like these (against a backdrop of more than 200,000 work-related accidents reported and more than 30,000 claim petitions for compensation filed) show just how unnecessary the October 2008 “reforms” were in assuring that cases where irreparable harm is possible get addressed by the Court.