Vermont Statutes Title 12 Sec. 7202
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 12 Sec. 7202
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Disease: means any disease, illness, ailment, or adverse physiological or chemical change linked to exposure to a proven toxic substance. See
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Exposure: means ingestion, inhalation, or absorption through any body surface. See
- Facility: means all contiguous land, structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on the land where proven toxic substances are manufactured, processed, used, or stored. See
- Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
- following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Medical monitoring: means a program of medical tests or procedures for the purpose of early detection of signs or symptoms of a latent disease resulting from exposure. See
- Operator: means a person who manages, conducts, or directs the operations of a facility. See
- Owner: means a person who owns or controls a facility. See
- Person: means any individual; partnership; company; corporation; association; unincorporated association; joint venture; trust; municipality; the State of Vermont or any agency, department, or subdivision of the State; federal agency; or any other legal or commercial entity. See
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- Proven toxic substance: means any substance, mixture, or compound that may cause personal injury or disease to humans and that satisfies one or more of the following:
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- tortious: means negligence, trespass, nuisance, product liability, or common law liability for ultra-hazardous or abnormally dangerous activity. See
§ 7202. Medical monitoring for exposure to proven toxic substances
(a) A person without a present injury or disease shall have a cause of action for the remedy of medical monitoring against a person who is the owner or operator of a large facility from which a proven toxic substance was released if all of the following are demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence:
(1) exposure at a rate significantly greater than the general population;
(2) to a proven toxic substance;
(3) as a result of tortious conduct of the defendant;
(4) as a proximate result of the exposure, plaintiffs have suffered an increased risk of contracting a serious disease;
(5) the increased risk makes it medically necessary for the plaintiffs to undergo periodic medical examination different from that prescribed for the general population in the absence of exposure; and
(6) monitoring procedures exist that are reasonable in cost and safe for use.
(b) If the cost of medical monitoring is awarded, a court shall order the defendant found liable to pay the award to a court-supervised medical monitoring program administered by one or more appropriate health professionals, including professionals with expertise in exposure to toxic substances or expertise with treating or monitoring the relevant latent disease or diseases.
(c) Upon an award of medical monitoring under subsection (b) of this section, the court shall award to the plaintiff reasonable attorney’s fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred.
(d)(1) This chapter shall be the exclusive remedy for a person without a present injury to bring a cause of action to seek medical monitoring due to exposure to a proven toxic substance.
(2) Except as provided under subdivision (1) of this subsection, nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to preclude the pursuit of any other civil or injunctive remedy or defense available under statute or common law, including the right of any person to seek to recover for damages related to the manifestation of a latent disease. The remedies and defenses in this chapter are in addition to those provided by existing statutory or common law.
(e) This section shall not increase the rights and remedies available under 21 Vt. Stat. Ann. chapter 9 to an employee who suffers a personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment, provided that 21 Vt. Stat. Ann. chapter 9 shall not limit the right of a person who has not suffered a personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment to bring a cause of action for medical monitoring. (Added 2021, No. 93 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 2022.)