By ruling that compensation claims for anxiety-related harm caused by exposure to a toxic substance are subject to the ten-year limitation period applicable to personal injury claims, the Mixed Chamber of the French Court of Cassation is requiring insurers to adapt their policies immediately.
In a judgment delivered on 29 May 2026 (French Court of Cassation, Mixed Chamber, 29 May 2026, No. 24-17.384), the Court clarified the limitation regime applicable to claims for compensation for anxiety-related harm resulting from exposure to a toxic or harmful substance. The Court held that, since anxiety-related harm is consequential upon a bodily injury, any action seeking compensation for such harm is subject to the ten-year limitation period provided for in Article 2226 of the French Civil Code :
“20. Anxiety-related harm resulting from the fear of an impairment of physical integrity caused by a high risk of developing a serious illness linked to exposure to a toxic or harmful product or substance is therefore harm consequential upon a bodily injury.
21. Par conséquent, l’action de droit commun en réparation d’un tel préjudice d’anxiété se prescrit dans le délai de dix ans à compter de la consolidation du dommage prévu à l’article 2226 du Code civil. »
Distilbene remains at issue
This decision forms part of the long-running body of litigation concerning Distilbene (DES), a drug prescribed to pregnant women between 1948 and 1977 to prevent miscarriages. In the present case, a woman exposed to the drug in utero alleged that she had developed genital abnormalities, including a T-shaped uterus and cervical adenosis, and claimed compensation for anxiety-related harm. She argued that, as a result of this exposure, she lived with the fear of developing breast cancer, cervical cancer, or other diseases associated with DES exposure.
The Nanterre Judicial Court, whose decision was upheld by the Versailles Court of Appeal (Versailles Court of Appeal, 22 February 2024, No. 21/07436), held that this anxiety-related harm constituted an independent moral injury and was therefore subject to the ordinary five-year limitation period under Article 2224 of the French Civil Code.
The French Court of Cassation overturned that ruling. Rejecting the characterization of anxiety-related harm as a purely moral injury, the Court held that it was consequential upon a bodily injury and therefore falls within the scope of Article 2226 of the Civil Code, which provides for a ten-year limitation period applicable to personal injury claims.
Disparate Limitation Period Regimes
The concept of anxiety-related damages (préjudice d’anxiété) was recognized by the Social Chamber of the French Court of Cassation in the context of asbestos litigation (Cass. soc., May 11, 2010, No. 09-42.241 and related cases).
