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Programs & Events | Health Law Curriculum | Health Law Faculty | Publications
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 Science for Judges | Internships | Centers Home
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Past Programs | Published Papers | Program Collaborators
April 13 & 14, 2007 Current Issues in Science and Law The first session of Science for Judges IX was devoted to an extensive, interactive discussion of two hypotheticals –one in a criminal case and the other in a civil case. The objectives were to assist judges in reaching a better understanding of statistical concepts that arise in litigation, to explore how scientific studies are designed, and to examine how scientific evidence can best be presented to judges and juries. The second session looked at a number of current issues that implicate science and law. View agenda and speakers (PDF) and video (Windows Media) for this event.
November 3 & 4, 2006 Regulating Pharmaceuticals and Updating Asbestos The program focused on pharmaceutical drugs and asbestos, two products whose use—past and present—raise troublesome issues for the American legal system. Experts were assembled from an extremely distinguished group that brought a wide variety of viewpoints and experience to an examination of these subjects. View agenda and speakers (PDF) and video (Windows Media) for this event.
March 3 & 4, 2006 Evaluating Evidence of Causation and Forensic Laboratories: Current Issues and Standards This program dealt with two complex problems that give rise to profound legal consequences: evaluating evidence of causation, and controlling forensic laboratories. Briefing book materials provided use background material for the presentations. View agenda and speakers (PDF) and video (Windows Media) for this event.
November 4 & 5, 2005 Techniques for Evidence Based Medicine The program, which focused on the techniques of evidence-based medicine, was structured to provide participants with the opportunity to meet in small break-out sessions to discuss the kinds of materials that judges may have to evaluate. Questions for the break-out session followed the studies that were examined. View agenda and speakers (PDF).
April 1 & 2, 2005 Risk Assessment Data: Disclosure and Protection The first session of Science for Judges V dealt with risk assessment in a variety of different contexts: how substances come to be classified as carcinogens, the impact genetic information may have on risk assessment in the future, the role of toxicology, and the admissibility of risk assessment data in the courts. The second session dealt with a variety of questions that relate to data. Without adequate data, it may, of course, be impossible to undertake needed research, but access to sensitive data raises privacy concerns and the need for protective devices. The session on data looked at these issues in a broad range of settings, ranging from problems encountered with legislation such as the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSE) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), as well as issues that arise in administrative agencies and the courts. The session ended with a consideration of how data unavailability limits our ability to examine the operation of American judicial systems. View agenda and speakers (PDF).
November 5 & 6, 2004 Agent Orange Revisited Human Behavior Research Agent Orange Revisited began with an overview of the litigation, culminating in the settlement of the class action before Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York. Speakers then discussed research aimed at establishing rates of exposure to dioxin in different areas in Vietnam, the work of the National Institute of Medicine, and the Veterans Administration’s decisions on compensating Vietnam veterans for Agent Orange claims. The second session on Human Behavior Research started with an overview of the judicial response to expert testimony on human behavior. Experts in a wide variety of fields then gave presentations on scientific research in the following particular areas of expertise: gender stereotyping, predictions of dangerousness, false confessions, and neuroscience. View agenda and speakers (PDF) and published papers for this event.
March 26 & 27, 2004 Maintaining the Integrity of Scientific Research Forensic Evidence in Criminal Proceedings The first session, Maintaining the Integrity of the Scientific Process, dealt with a number of issues that have been making headline news: conflicts of interest within the academic community; research on the consequences of such conflicts; and failures by pharmaceutical companies to disclose the results of negative or inconclusive drug trials. The second session focused on current research related to a number of forensic identification techniques used in criminal proceedings. Speakers discussed both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA and the reception of these types of evidence by the courts. This was followed by a presentation on matching bullets by analyzing their lead content, the subject of a recent report by the National Academies of Science. The final topic was fingerprint evidence, and an analysis of the extent to which fingerprint evidence has been validated by scientific research. View agenda and speakers (PDF) and published papers for this event.
November 7 & 8, 2003 Evidence Based Medicine The Administrative Agencies' Handling of Scientific Evidence Science for Judges II focused on two principal topics: 1) The practice of epidemiology and its role in judicial proceedings. Epidemiology has played a significant role in toxic tort actions in proving causation, often the most crucial issue in dispute. Many courts consider epidemiologic evidence the “gold standard” of proof, and some judges go so far as to hold that a plaintiff cannot prevail in proving causation in the absence of confirmatory epidemiologic studies. 2) The production of science through the regulatory process of administrative agencies. In addition to viewing the work of the FDA and the EPA, the session considered the impact on administrative agencies of the Supreme Court’s decisions on the admissibility of expert testimony and how other countries have handled asbestos problems. View agenda and speakers (PDF) and published papers for this event.
March 28 & 29, 2003 Mechanisms of Disease Epidemiology The explosive growth of science and technology in our society has been mirrored by the increasing number of scientific and technological issues that arise in litigation. Particularly troublesome for the courts have been the difficult determinations about causation that arise in toxic tort cases. Science for Judges I featured leading toxicologists and epidemiologists who discussed issues that bear on proof of causation in toxic tort litigation. View agenda and speakers (PDF) and published papers for this event.
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