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Wood v. Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories8/22/2002
w potential benefits against the many almost-certain problems of medical monitoring, we are convinced that this Court has little reason to allow such a remedy without a showing of present physical injury. Traditional tort law militates against recognition of such claims, and we are not prepared to step into the legislative role and mutate otherwise sound legal principles.
V.
We are mindful of the predicament in which our decision places Appellant and others in similar situations. Those who have ingested fenfluramine, but in whom no disease is yet manifest, will be forced to either forego medical evaluations or proceed with them at their own cost. Nevertheless, any other outcome would result in inordinate burdens for both the potential victim and the alleged negligent party.
Granting Appellant's request for medical monitoring costs absent a.showing of physical injury , would require AHPC to finance diagnostic testing for a large number of past fenfluramine users. If each were actually tested, and the results of the tests showed no physical disease, the negligent party will have paid large sums of money despite having caused no physical injury. If, in contrast, the tests revealed the presence of physical disease resulting from the drug ingestion, a strong argument could be made that the victims are precluded from recovering additional damages because they have already recovered on the claim of negligence.
Requiring prospective victims to finance their own testing, and when such testing demonstrates the presence of disease, the victims will then be able to prove a physical injury such as will support a cause of action. If negligence is proven, those victims will be able to recover all of the money spent on testing as well as damages for the injury and future expenses. For those who pay for their own testing but never find disease, we regret the economic expense but suggest that they have paid for a service and received the benefit thereof--in this case, a clean bill of health and the accompanying peace of mind.
From a policy standpoint, this outcome should act as a sufficient deterrent to those who would negligently produce and distribute harmful substances, for they shall still have to compensate victims for any injury caused. Likewise, recognizing only claims supported by physical injury will prevent the potential flood of litigation stemming from unsubstantiated or fabricated prospective harms, thereby preserving judicial and corporate resources to compensate actual victims who develop injuries in the future.
IV.
Because Appellant has shown no present physical injury , her cause of action under theories of negligence and strict liability have yet to accrue. Thus, Appellant's complaint was correctly dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. For the same reasons, the class action must fail. Where there is no injury, there can be no redress. If and when Appellant manifests an injury resulting from AHPC's conduct, only then will she have a remedy under the law. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is therefore affirmed.
All concur.
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