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Medical Monitoring Class Actions: Challenging Certification By Challenging the Proposed Medical Monitoring Program

By Geoffrey Phelan
May 27, 2008

Plaintiffs often seek damages for medical monitoring in class action lawsuits involving exposure to toxic substances. Medical monitoring funds provide compensation for the cost of periodic diagnostic tests and medical examinations. Plaintiffs often claim such checkups are medically necessary to monitor their health, facilitate early diagnosis, and improve treatment of potential future diseases. Federal district courts, however, have recently denied class certification in instances in which the plaintiffs sought medical monitoring, citing causation issues better addressed on an individual basis. The Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court has begun to follow suit.

A pharmaceutical manufacturer was successful in decertifying a class action for medical monitoring in a recent product liability case in Florida. In Wyeth v. Gottlieb, 930 So. 2d 635 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 3d Dist. 2006), the Third District Court of Appeal held that individual causation issues predominated over common ones, since the plaintiffs had different levels of exposure, different sources of information, and different risk factors for breast cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Similarly, in a recent product liability case in New Jersey, a manufacturer of vinyl chloride products was victorious in its defense against a class action for medical monitoring. In Buynie et al. v. Airco, Inc. et al., 2007 WL 2275013 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2007), the Appellate Division held that class certification was inappropriate because the plaintiffs' claims were not cohesive on the issue of causation.

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