Cite as: 521 U. S. 424 (1997)
Opinion of Ginsburg, J.
Court, the Second Circuit, or even this Court, that medical monitoring expenses may be recoverable, but not through a lump sum, only through a court fund. The question aired below was the prime one the Court obscures: Does Buckley's medical monitoring claim warrant any relief?
Buckley sought "an 'amount of money' sufficient to 'compensate' him for 'future medical monitoring expenses.' " See ante, at 439. He was not more precise about the form relief should take. The Court infers from Buckley's proposed charges to the jury, however, that he wanted what "tort law ordinarily permits"—damages in a lump sum. See ibid. I believe his claim qualifies for that relief. If the Court deems what "tort law ordinarily permits" inappropriate, however, the Court should at least say, for the guidance of lower courts, "Yes, Buckley has a claim for relief." Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(c) directs a court to grant the relief to which a prevailing party is entitled, even if the party did not demand such relief in its pleadings. Rule 54(c) thus instructs district courts to "compensate the parties or remedy the situation without regard to the constraints of the antiquated and rigid forms of action." 10 C. Wright, A. Miller, & M. Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2662, pp. 133-134 (2d ed. 1983). Under the Federal Rules, "a party should experience little difficulty in securing a remedy other than that demanded in his pleadings when he shows he is entitled to it." Id., at 135; see also id., § 2664, at 163 (Rule 54(c) "has been utilized when the court awards a different type of relief from that demanded in the complaint"); cf. Holt Civic Club v. Tuscaloosa, 439 U. S. 60, 65-66 (1978) ("a federal court should not dismiss a meritorious constitutional claim because the complaint seeks one remedy rather than another plainly appropriate one") (citing Rule 54(c)).
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The Court today reverses the Second Circuit's determination that Buckley has stated a claim for relief, but remands the case for further proceedings. If I comprehend the Court's enigmatic decision correctly, Buckley may replead a
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