A New Jersey appeals court has ruled that a regulation exempting high-low agreements from a mandate on reporting medical malpractice settlements to state agencies doesn’t protect the proceeds of such accords from a workers’ compensation lien.

The Appellate Division in a published decision Wednesday affirmed a ruling that injured plaintiff Paolo Marano was not exempt from attachment of a $34,000 lien to the $250,000 he received under a high-low deal in his suit against an orthopedic surgeon.