Main description:

'Proving' the cause of the plaintiff's injury in personal injury litigation often entails significant challenges, particularly when science cannot identify the cause of a biological phenomenon or when the nature of this cause is debatable. This problem is frequently encountered in medical malpractice cases, where the limitations of scientific knowledge are still extensive. Yet judges must decide cases, however uncertain the evidence with regard to proof of causation. Reluctant to leave patients without compensation, courts have in some cases challenged their traditional approach to causation through recourse to such techniques as reliance on factual presumptions and inferences, the concept of loss of chance, and reversal of the burden of proof. This book analyses and criticises the use of these various techniques by the courts of England, Australia, Canada, France, and the civilian Canadian province of Quebec in confronting evidentiary causal difficulties caused by the uncertainties of medical science.

Contents:

Introduction Section 1-A Society of Risks and Uncertainty Section 2-Uncertainty in Medical Malpractice Section 3-Jurisdictions, Fields of Law, and Methodology Section 4-Structure Chapter 1: Problems in the Proof of Causation Section 1-Proof of Causation Section 2-Evidence in the Four Jurisdictions Section 3-The Impact of Scientific Uncertainties on the Proof of Causation Chapter 2: Flexibility . Section 1-Importance and Mutability of the Traditional Standards . Section 2-Flexibility and Independence of the Judiciary . Section 3-Flexibility in Light of Expert Controversies Chapter 3: Reversal of the Burden of Proving Causation . Section 1-Common Law ... Section 2-Civil Law . . Section 3-Critical Analysis . Chapter 4: Probabilistic Assessment of Damages . Section 1-Loss of Chance Section 2-Market-share Liability . Section 3-Critical Analysis (Loss of Chance) Chapter 5: Inferences of Causation Section 1-Inferences and Factual Presumptions . . Section 2-The Development of Justifications Section 3-Critical Analysis Final Analysis and Conclusion Section 1-General Review . Section 2-Review of the Critique of the Solutions Section 3-The Alternative-Cumulative Causes Distinction . . Section 4-Flexibility and the Evidential Solution Section 5-Alternative Solutions?