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Epidemiology and litigation—the Sellafield childhood leukaemia cases
Author(s) -
Wakeford R.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of the royal statistical society: series a (statistics in society)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.103
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1467-985X
pISSN - 0964-1998
DOI - 10.1111/1467-985x.00111
Subject(s) - expert witness , childhood leukaemia , law , witness , civil litigation , political science , sociology , medicine , pediatrics
Statisticians and scientists are often required to provide information outside the scientific community. One important example is as an expert witness in the law courts. The civil litigation cases of Reay versus British Nuclear Fuels plc and Hope versus British Nuclear Fuels plc are a vivid illustration of how science and scientists interact with the law and lawyers. The personal injury cases were decided on the basis of how a specific epidemiological association should be properly interpreted, and this involved many experts. It is desirable that statisticians and scientists understand the nature of expert evidence, and these two cases are used to illuminate the role of the scientist in civil litigation.