General Causation at a Crossroads in Toxic Tort Cases
46 Pages Posted: 17 Nov 2011
Date Written: December 16, 2003
Abstract
Traditional approaches to specific causation are not feasible in toxic tort litigations. This article explores in depth the middle path between such unworkable, traditional approaches and institutionally improbable proposals that causation simply be abolished when toxic products are at issue. The middle way relies on the new judicial acceptance of certain forms of statistical proof. Epidemiological findings, especially when conjoined with case-specific differential diagnosis testimony, support causal inferences and should be attainable in a wide variety of toxic tort cases
Keywords: tort law, products liability, toxic torts, causation, specific causation, general causation, scientific evidence, statistics
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