Ban on Medical Monitoring Award Cannot Apply Retroactively, Louisiana Supreme Court Rules

NEW ORLEANS - A state legislature ban on medical monitoring awards cannot be applied retroactively to a group of asbestos plaintiffs whose filing of a lawsuit prior to passage of the amendment constitutes a vested property right that is protected by due process of law, the Louisiana Supreme Court has determined. Bourgeois et al. v. A.P. Green Industries Inc., No. 00-CA-1528 (La. Sup. Ct.).

The high court affirmed the trial court's judgment insofar as it declared the law unconstitutional as applied to plaintiffs' causes of action.

The Supreme Court said the Louisiana Legislature amended La. C.C. art. 2315 by Act …