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The escalating financial crisis of Lehman Brothers [stock down 94% Jan-Sept 2008], may have a major impact on workers’ compensation throughout the US. Over this weekend, the financial guru's scheduled meetings in an effort to avoid a complete crash of Lehman Brothers. In the meantime, the waves of this potential economic meltdown are sending hurricane-type surges throughout the US workers’ compensation system.
 

The NJ Star-Ledger newspaper conducted an eight-month survey involving hundreds of thousands of workers compensation claims pending before the New Jersey Division of Workers Compensation. The Star Ledger series ran for three days and exposed huge difficulties in the NJ workers' compensation system.

Workers' compensation insurance companies have a long history of guarding themselves from liability from asbestos exposure issues. Recently the NJ courts have ruled that workers' compensation insurance companies are shielded from liability when the insurance company performs hygiene studies and does not take action to protect the employees that it has insured under the policy.

In a sweeping decision that will impact thousands of cases, the NJ Supreme ruled that electronic cancellations of workers' compensation policies did not comply with the statute.

Occupational lead exposure, especially to lead paint, has been a well-known hazard in the workplace you decades. Recent epidemiological studies demonstrate the causal relationship between exposure to impaired brain function, over time, in adults resulting in early aging. Employers and insurance carriers should brace themselves for a wave of claims.

Medical expenses in contested workers’ compensation cases are now a significant and troublesome issue resulting in uncertainty, delay, and potential future liability: the recent NJ Supreme Court decision, University of Mass. Memorial Hospital v. Christodoulou, 180 N.J. 334 (2004) has left the question of how to adjudicate medical benefits that were conditionally paid or paid in error. Presently there is no exclusively defined procedure to determine the allocation and apportionment of primary responsibility for unauthorized medical expenses and reimbursement.

Statement of Jon L. Gelman Attorney at Law Before the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary Hearing on the Fairness in Asbestos Resolution Act of 2005 January 11, 2005.

Compensability for occupational diseases has become commonplace in most, if not all, jurisdictions throughout the country; however, most claims filed allege physical rather than mental disability. The California Workers' Compensation Institute recently published its study of mental stress claims which indicated an increase of 430 percent in the number of claims filed from 1980 to 1986. 

National Gypsum, a leading manufacturer of building materials, filed for bankruptcy in 1990 due to asbestos-related liabilities. As a result, the company established the National Gypsum Asbestos Trust to provide compensation for individuals diagnosed with an asbestos-related illness due to exposure to National Gypsum products.

Who is National Gypsum? Incorporated in Delaware in 1925.Manufacturer and supplier of services for the building and construction industry. Miner of asbestos fibers. Popular trade name: Gold Bond Products
Asbestos products types – drywall, joint compounds, textures, shingles, cement boards, adhesives, acoustical plaster, fireproofing, insulation cement, raw asbestos fiber.

The delivery of medical benefits to injured workers is becoming more costly and difficult to administer. The purpose of this article is to report developing trends in the United States in the delivery of medical benefits for injured workers.