Opinion ID: 1800200
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Use of Policy Considerations in Determining Whether to Recognize a Medical Monitoring Cause of Action

Text: ¶ 21. Plaintiffs assert policy considerations that favor recognizing a right to recover medical monitoring costs without a showing of present physical injury, including a: (1) public health interest in encouraging and fostering access to early medical testing for those exposed to hazardous substances, (2) possible economic savings realized by the early detection and treatment of the disease; (3) deterrence of tortfeasors; and (4) avoidance of the injustice of burdening an economically disadvantaged person with expensive treatment needed due to another's negligence. Defendants claim that it is improper for this Court to consider policy in determining whether to recognize a new cause of action. However, in Buckley the United States Supreme Court also reviewed policy considerations, including a potential floodgate of trivial litigation and the resultant delay and decrease in remedy for those with manifested illnesses as well as the extra burden on consumers resultant from virtually unlimited liability. 521 U.S. at 432-38, 117 S.Ct. 2113. ¶ 22. In developing the common law, courts may evaluate policy considerations. In Buckley, the United States Supreme Court responded to a policy consideration raised by the plaintiff in favor of recognizing a medical monitoring action by stating here the relevant question concerns not simply recovery in an individual case, but the consequences and effects of a rule of law that would permit recovery. 521 U.S. at 438, 117 S.Ct. 2113. The Court noted that, if allowing plaintiff to recover without showing an injury provided benefits in some individual cases but would comprehensively cause more harm than good, the Court may factor that consideration into its decision to refuse to allow the recovery. Id. The Court in Buckley decided that it need not engage in weighing the factors, and likewise, this Court need not balance the harms in order to reach a result but merely notes in response to defendants' assertion that it may indeed factor policy considerations into its decision whether to recognize a new cause of action.