The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled on 7/10/06 that hedonic damages may be awarded by a jury as a separate component of general damages. Hedonic damages are to compensate for the loss of enjoyment of life. Most states include hedonic damages in general damages such as pain and suffering, to avoid double recoveries for the same type of loss. It will now be critical for juries, at least in Louisiana, to be given a clear explanation to prevent them from confusing hedonic damages from pain and suffering. The court limited the availability of hedonic damages to the primary tort victim during his lifetime, but not to his wife, who can recover for loss of consortium, service and society. Hedonic damages are not available in wrongful death actions.The NAM joined with 11 other associations and companies in an amicus brief 8/11/05 urging the Louisiana Supreme Court not to create a special category of hedonic damages outside the normal general damages structure. We argued that separately itemizing hedonic damages, which are awarded for a loss of enjoyment of life, on a jury form would threaten to allow double damage recoveries. If the jury form includes a separate line for hedonic damages, juries might award them in addition to general damages, which are also on the form, even though hedonic damages are a subset of general damages. This would create a windfall for plaintiffs and upset settled expectations for companies that are doing business in Louisiana.