Bower v. Westinghouse Electric Corp.

(Filed Sept. 20, 1999)

I dissent in this case because I believe that West Virginia law dqes not permit an independent cause of action to recover future medical monitoring costs absent physical injury, and this Court has no authority to create such a cause of action.

Several things about this decision trouble me. The first is the way in which the majority goes beyond the narrow question presented by the District Court in order to decide this case. I do not dispute the Court’s authority under our Uniform Certification of Questions of Law Act to reformulate a question submitted by a certifying…