Search by...
- Keyword
- Title
- Author
- Subject
- Publisher
Results should have...
- All of these words
- Any of these words
- This exact phrase
- None of these words
Keyword searches may also use the operators
AND, OR, NOT, “ ”, ( )
AND, OR, NOT, “ ”, ( )
Scientific Uncertainty and Causation in Tort Law
Beginning of article
INTRODUCTION
Tort cases involving scientific uncertainty frequently present courts with a difficult causation issue. In the paradigmatic case, the available scientific evidence indicates that a substance might be hazardous, but does not establish that the substance is hazardous.1
When presented with such evidence, courts must decide whether the plaintiff has adequately proven that her injury was tortiously caused by the substance.
This causal issue potentially arises whenever we do not fully understand how a substance interacts with the body and produces an adverse health outcome. We do not, for example, adequately understand the etiology of cancer.2 To assess …
