Causation Causation Kate Latimer Daubert Joiner Kumho Weisgram

Causation, Causation Kate Latimer

Daubert, Joiner, Kumho, Weisgram “trial judge must determine” – “whether. . . (1) scientific knowledge that (2) will assist the trier of fact” – “whether. . . scientifically valid and. . . properly can be applied” “expert’s testimony must be ‘scientific. . . knowledge’” – “’scientific’ implies a grounding in the methods and procedures of science” – “inference or assertion must be derived by the scientific method”

PWC 2008 Daubert Challenge Study

Levels of Evidence • • Epidemiology Toxicology Authoritative opinion Anecdote / other

Aggregated Evidence • Joiner v GE – dist ct excludes; ct appeals applies “weightof-evidence” to reverse; USSC reverses • The Parlodel® Trilogy – Hollander (10 th), Glastetter (8 th), Rider (11 th) • aggregating bits of unreliable evidence with “weight-of-the-evidence” analysis “amounts to a hollow whole of hollow parts”

Differential Diagnosis • Perry v. NPC, 554 F. Supp. 2 d 454 (E. D. Pa. 2008) – where most diagnoses of a disease are idiopathic, need more than differential diagnosis – “fit” required of specific causation opinion, else fatal “gaps” from reliance on animal studies, hypothetical mechanisms