Temple-Inland v. Carter

In Temple-Inland v. Carter, 993 S.W.2d 88, 89 (Tex. 1999) the Court held that an individual who has been exposed to asbestos, but has not developed an asbestos-related disease, could not recover mental anguish damages for the reasonable fear of possible future asbestos-related diseases.. The Court noted that the existence of a physical injury may not be sufficient for recovery of mental anguish damages when the injury has not produced disease despite a reasonable fear that such disease will develop. Id. at 92. The Court explained that while the law generally allows recovery of mental anguish damages in personal injury cases, allowing recovery for fear of a disease when the plaintiff has no symptoms results in systematic under-compensation of those who actually contract the disease, and a windfall for those who do not. Id. at 93. The Court expressly did not decide in Temple-Inland whether "a plaintiff who has developed an asbestos-related disease may recover mental anguish damages for a reasonable fear of developing other asbestos-related diseases." Id. at 94.