On July 1, 2020, the Appellate Division saved a plaintiff from a trial court’s drastic remedy of dismissing a complaint with prejudice because plaintiff’s treating doctor refused to testify. Escobar-Barrera v. Kissin, 464 N.J. Super. 224 (App. Div. 2020).

Following a Jan. 26, 2017, rear-end hit, as a result of which defendant stipulated liability, plaintiff came under the care of Dr. He, who provided a report opining that the torn supraspinatus tendon in plaintiff’s right shoulder was caused by the accident and was permanent, which was necessary to vault plaintiff’s verbal threshold.