Plaintiffs, current and/or former smokers with histories of 20 pack-years or more and who aren’t yet sick, brought a class action suit against Philip Morris USA requesting a court-supervised medical monitoring program funded by the tobacco manufacturer to assist in the early detection of lung cancer. Plaintiffs’ claims based on negligence, strict liability, and breach of implied warranty were previously dismissed. The state’s highest court held that there is no independent equitable cause of action for medical monitoring under New York state law. The court cited the well-established rule that a plaintiff must sustain a physical injury before he or she is able to recover “reasonably anticipated” consequential damages. The court reasoned that it is “speculative, at best, whether asymptomatic plaintiffs will ever contract a disease.” The threat of future harm alone is insufficient to impose tort liability in this context.
The court also cited several policy reasons behind its decision, including the potential for a flood of frivolous claims and the difficulty in implementing and administering a medical surveillance program.
Caronia v. Philip Morris USA, 13-00227, New York State Court of Appeals (Albany).
An individual or organization may seek civil damages against a tobacco company based on the claim that the use of tobacco products causes disease or death. Some of these cases will relate to general tobacco products, while others will relate to specific subcategories of tobacco products--for example, light or low products, menthol or other flavored products. Additionally, there may be cases relating to exposure to secondhand smoke.
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Type of Tobacco Product
None
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"However, "the potential systemic effects of creating a new, full-blown tort law cause of action cannot be ignored" (Metro-North Commuter R.R. Co. v Buckley, 521 US 424, 443-444 [1997] [refusing to recognize a tort claim for medical monitoring costs where the plaintiff was exposed to asbestos but had not manifested symptoms of a disease]). For instance, dispensing with the physical injury requirement could permit "tens of millions" of potential plaintiffs to recover monitoring costs, effectively flooding the courts while concomitantly depleting the purported tortfeasor's resources for those who have actually sustained damage (id. at 442-444). Moreover, it is speculative, at best, whether asymptomatic plaintiffs will ever contract a disease; allowing them to recover medical monitoring costs without first establishing physical injury would lead to the inequitable diversion of money away from those who have actually sustained an injury as a result of the exposure."
Limitations regarding the use of quotes The quotes provided here reflect statements from a specific decision. Accordingly, the International Legal Consortium (ILC) cannot guarantee that an appellate court has not reversed a lower court decision which may influence the applicability or influence of a given quote. All quotes have been selected based on the subjective evaluations undertaken by the ILC meaning that quotes provided here may not accurately or comprehensively represent a given court’s opinion or conclusion, as such quotes may have originally appeared alongside other negative opinions or accompanying facts. Further, some quotes are derived from unofficial English translations, which may alter their original meaning. We emphasize the need to review the original decision and related decisions before authoritatively relying on quotes. Using quotes provided here should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter in any jurisdiction. Please see the full limitations at https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/about.
Plaintiffs, current and/or former smokers with histories of 20 pack-years or more and who aren’t yet sick, brought a class action suit against Philip Morris USA requesting a court-supervised medical monitoring program funded by the tobacco manufacturer to assist in the early detection of lung cancer. Plaintiffs’ claims based on negligence, strict liability, and breach of implied warranty were previously dismissed. The state’s highest court held that there is no independent equitable cause of action for medical monitoring under New York state law. The court cited the well-established rule that a plaintiff must sustain a physical injury before he or she is able to recover “reasonably anticipated” consequential damages. The court reasoned that it is “speculative, at best, whether asymptomatic plaintiffs will ever contract a disease.” The threat of future harm alone is insufficient to impose tort liability in this context.
The court also cited several policy reasons behind its decision, including the potential for a flood of frivolous claims and the difficulty in implementing and administering a medical surveillance program.