Blessed Are the (Global) Peacekeepers: Evaluating the ALI's Proposed Medical Monitoring Amendment

As Judge Jack Weinstein says, the Third Restatement of Torts “should attempt to synthesize a tort law for the industrialized world.” The American Law Institute has taken a daring step in this direction by considering an amendment to create a unitary medical monitoring standard that would allow toxic exposure victims to request clinical testing, paid for by defendants, without requiring proof of actual, present injury. This Comment contends that the proposed amendment, with minor changes, would provide a well-needed basis for courts to allow medical monitoring classes to be certified. Passing the amendment would be a meaningful step towards clarifying the web of discordant state medical monitoring standards that have dissuaded courts from allowing monitoring claims to proceed. Further, a uniform standard could ease the procedural issues that have led courts to foreclose opportunities for global peace in complex litigation: namely, the difficulty of resolving both current and future claims simultaneously. So long as judges are willing to apply the proposed amendment, it will serve to engender meaningful improvements in the pursuit of justice for toxic exposure victims.