In a noteworthy shift for Louisiana tort law, the state legislature has enacted a new rule that eliminates a commonly used presumption in personal injury litigation. House Bill No. 450, passed and was signed into law by the Governor Jeff Landry on May 28, 2025. The new law adds Article 306.1 to the Louisiana Code of Evidence and expressly prohibits courts from presuming that an act caused an illness or injury simply because a plaintiff lacked a prior history of that condition.
Key Provisions of Article 306.1
The new article states: "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in a claim for personal injury damages that is not raised pursuant to the Louisiana Workers' Compensation Law, the lack of a prior history of an illness, injury, or condition shall not create a presumption that an illness, injury, or condition was caused by the act that is the subject of the claim."
This codification directly limits the use of circumstantial evidence to establish causation in tort cases- namely, the inference that because a plaintiff had no prior medical complaints, the accident or incident at issue must have caused their condition.
Legislative Intent to Overrule Hously v. Cerise
Section 2 of the Act makes the legislature's intent clear. The statute is designed to overrule the Louisiana Supreme Court's 1991 decision in Housley v. Cerise, 579 So.2d 973 (La. 1991). In Housley, the Court held that a presumption of causation could arise when a plaintiff was in good health prior to an accident, the symptoms appeared shortly thereafter, and no other explanation was evident. This "Housley Presumption" provided plaintiffs a critical evidentiary advantage for over three decades.
By eliminating the presumption, Article 306.1, raises the bar for plaintiffs seeking to prove causation in personal injury lawsuits, requiring more affirmative evidence beyond the absence of a prior medical history,
Application and Limitations
The statute expressly limits its application to claims outside the Louisiana Workers' Compensation laws. This carve-out preserves current evidentiary standards for workplace injuries, where no-fault principles and different burdens of proof apply.
Importantly, the law does not apply retroactively. Section 3 explains that Article 306.1 will not affect cases arising before the Act's effective date.
Moving Forward
The enactment of Article 306.1 is poised to reshape how personal injury cases are litigated in Louisiana. Plaintiffs can no longer rely on the absence of pre-existing conditions to shift the burden of proof on causation. Defendants, particularly insurers, are likely to benefit from this higher evidentiary threshold, as it removes a long-standing tool used by plaintiffs to establish liability through circumstantial inference. This development should lead to increased opportunities for summary judgment and more favorable settlements for defendants, especially in cases where the casual link between the alleged act and the claimed injury is speculative.
