Donovan v. Phillip Morris USA, Inc.
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
914 N.E.2d 891 (2009)
Donovan (plaintiff), a longtime smoker of Phillip Morris (defendant) cigarettes without a current cancer diagnosis, brought a class-action negligence suit alleging that smoking had caused cellular-level lung damage that substantially increased her risk of future lung cancer, supported by evidence of physiological changes and expert testimony. She sought a court-supervised medical-monitoring program funded by Phillip Morris for early cancer detection, and Phillip Morris argued she needed to show a current physical injury to sustain a negligence claim; the district court certified the cognizability question to the Massachusetts high court.
Whether a plaintiff's claim for medical monitoring based on subclinical effects of exposure to a known hazardous substance and an increased risk of a serious illness is cognizable.