Louisiana Court: Law Prohibiting Medical Monitoring Damages Cannot Be Applied Retroactively

LAKE CHARLES, La. - A change in Louisiana law that prohibits recovery of damages for medical monitoring cannot be applied retroactively to a personal injury claim filed by several plaintiffs occupationally exposed to asbestos, a Louisiana appeals court has ruled. Crooks v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., No. 00-0947 (La. Ct. App., 3rd Cir.).

In a decision issued Jan. 17, the Third Circuit Louisiana Court of Appeal said that applying the law retroactively would deprive the plaintiffs of their previously vested right and that doing so is unconstitutional.

'Even where the legislature has expressed its intent to give a law retroactive …