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90 Yale L.J. 1353 (1980-1981)
Causation, Valuation, and Chance in Personal Injury Torts Involving Preexisting Conditions and Future Consequences

handle is hein.journals/ylr90 and id is 1371 raw text is: Causation, Valuation, and Chance in
Personal Injury Torts Involving
Preexisting Conditions and Future
Consequences
Joseph H. King, Jr.t
It has been observed that sooner or later most of those who are inter-
ested in the law of torts turn their attention explicitly to the subject of
causation.' Unfortunately, all too often examination of causation is not
accompanied by analysis of its companion concept of valuation, the pro-
cess of identifying and assessing the value of the interest destroyed.2 Even
when valuation is considered with causation, understanding often is inhib-
ited by a tendency to commingle the concepts. Nowhere are these analyti-
cal shortcomings more harshly manifested nor is there more need of rea-
soned rectification than in the contexts of personal injuries involving
victims suffering from preexisting conditions and of claims for future con-
sequences of an injury.
Causation refers to the cause and effect relationship that must be estab-
lished between tortious conduct and a loss before liability for that loss may
be imposed.' Causation questions relate to the fact of a loss or of its
t Professor of Law, University of Tennessee College of Law. The author wishes to express his
appreciation to Ms. Susan Herndon for her editorial assistance on an earlier draft of this article.
1. Calabresi, Concerning Cause and the Law of Torts: An Essay for Harry Kalven, Jr., 43 U.
CII. L. REV. 69, 69 (1975).
2. There are two interrelated functions that are served by the causation and valuation processes.
First, the rules may satisfy a perception of what fundamental considerations of justice require. In this
sense, the requirement of causation seems to fulfill a basic sense of symmetry in the ordering of
human affairs. Redress for losses caused seems to return the scales to equipoise. By performing this
function, causation and valuation may enhance respect for the legal system and the rule of law.
The second role of causation and valuation is to contribute to an optimal allocation of resources.
Rules of causation and valuation determine when a particular loss will be assigned to a specific indi-
vidual or entity. This loss-assigning function helps assure that consumers are informed of the real
costs of the many products, services, and activities that may cause accidental injuries, and also ani-
mates the deterrent, incentive, and loss-distributing goals of tort law. The fundamental rationale of
enterprise liability-that the cost of accidents caused by an enterprise should be charged to the enter-
prise as a cost of doing business-is effectuated by the concepts of causation and valuation. See gener-
ally Klemme, The Enterprise Liability Theory of Torts, 47 U. COLO. L. REV. 153 (1976). Society's
resources will be more likely to be allocated optimally if consumers can weigh true costs.
3. For a general discussion of the cause-in-fact requirement in tort law, see A. BECHT & F.
MILLER, THE TEST OF FACTUAL CAUSATION (1961), F. HARPER & F. JAMES, THE LAW OF TORTS §
20.2 (1956 & Supp. 1968), H. HART & A. HONORE, CAUSATION IN THE LAW 103-229 (1959), and W.
PROSSER, HANDBOOK OF THE LAW OF TORTS §§ 41-45 (4th ed. 1971).

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