ABSTRACT
Dread of cancer is a primary emotional stressor in the late Twentieth Century. Some people apparently live in near-constant fear of the disease. Take for instance, four plaintiffs won a case against a major industrial company in California, who happened to dispose of a Class I toxic chemical in a Class II landfill. The foursome was awarded $800,000 for fear of cancer, $269,500 for psychological damages, $142,975 for medical monitoring costs, $108,100 for disruption of their lives, and $2.6 million for punitive damages. The state court of appeals upheld a lower court, saying that the plaintiffs did not have to establish a physical injury or even a reasonable certainty that cancer would occur in order to recover for fear of cancer as long as the fear itself is genuine, serious and reasonable. However, the higher court did set aside the award for medical monitoring, saying that it was unwilling to open a new cause of action against the defendant. The plaintiffs not only did not have to establish a physical injury, they did not even have to show that cancer or some other future injury was more likely than not.
