The Majority Opinion

The majority nevertheless would permit recovery because “[t]here is an undisputed relationship between exposure to asbestos sufficient to cause asbestosis, and asbestos-related cancer.” Ante, at 16. To state that some relationship exists without examining whether the relationship is enough to support recovery, however, ignores the central issue in this case. There is a fundamental premise in this case—conceded, as I understand it, by all parties—and it is this: There is no demonstrated causal link between asbestosis and cancer. See Churg & Green, Pathology of Occupational Lung Disease, at 313. The incidence of asbestosis correlates with the less-frequent incidence of cancer among exposed workers, Ibid., but this does not suffice. Correlation is not causation. Absent causation, it is difficult to conceive why asbestosis is any more than marginally more suitable a predicate for recovering for fear of cancer than the fact of mere exposure. This correlation the Court relies upon does not establish a direct link between asbestosis and asbestos-related cancer, and it does not suffice under common-law precedents as a predicate condition for recovery of damages based upon fear.

It must be conceded that courts in some common-law jurisdictions have ruled that fear of cancer is compensable as pain and suffering before the cancer is diagnosed, but the majority’s extensive citations are not that persuasive. The Court collects cases from 12 jurisdictions that comport with its result, but only 5 of these were decided by the high court of a State. Ante, at 12–13, and n. 10. Moreover, three would allow recovery for fear of cancer predicated upon mere exposure to asbestos, see Denton v. Southern R. Co., 854 S. W. 2d 885, 889 (Tenn. App. 1993) (citing Hagerty v. L & L Marine Servs., Inc., 788 F. 2d 315, 318 (CA5 1986)); Lavelle v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., 30 Ohio Misc. 2d 11, 14, 507 N. E. 2d 476, 480 (Ct. Common Pleas, Cuyahoga Cty. 1987); Devlin v. Johns-Manville Corp., 202 N. J. Super. 556, 563, 495 A. 2d 495, 499 (1985), a result contrary to our own holding in Metro-North. Five more appear to allow recovery with the onset of pleurisy, see Capital Holding Corp. v. Bailey, 873 S. W. 2d 187, 194 (Ky. 1994); Beeman v. Manville Corp. Asbestos Disease Compensation Fund, 496 N. W. 2d 247, 250 (Iowa 1993); Celotex Corp. v. Wilson, 607 A. 2d 1223, 1229–1230 (Del. 1992); Mauro v. Raymark Industries, Inc., 116 N. J. 126, 129–130, 561 A. 2d 257, 258–259 (1989); Wolff v. A-One Oil, Inc., 216 App. Div. 2d 291, 292, 627 N. Y. S. 2d 788, 789–790 (1995), again a result even today’s Court would reject, ante, at 15–17 and n. 14. In the end, cases from only five of those jurisdictions support the majority’s analysis, none of them decided by a state high court.