Causation, Idiopathic Conditions and the Limits of Epidemiology.

Goldberg, R.

Abstract

The absence of scientific evidence with respect to the cause of damage is one of the most difficult problems faced by courts in determining causation. Occasionally, Scots law is required to resolve such cases.1 They are essentially about scientific uncertainty, which may arise from limitations in scientific knowledge about a particular biological process (general causation) or from the difficulty in providing a scientific explanation for the sequence in an individual case (individual causation).2 Both forms of scientific uncertainty arose in Smith v McNair,3 where the difficult legal and medical issue addressed, and deemed to be "at the frontier edge of causation",4 was whether a road accident accelerated the development of Parkinson's disease in a pursuer already suffering from the condition.

Citation

Goldberg, R. (2009). Causation, Idiopathic Conditions and the Limits of Epidemiology. Edinburgh Law Review, 13(2), 282-286. https://doi.org/10.3366/e1364980909001401

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2009-05
• Deposit Date: Nov 22, 2012
• Journal: Edinburgh Law Review
• Print ISSN: 1364-9809
• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 282-286
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3366/e1364980909001401