Posted with permission from the SchachtmanLaw blog. A couple of months ago, Professor David Bernstein posted to the Volokh Conspiracy, a short piece about some of the missteps and mistakes committed by “elite defense counsel” in litigating expert witness issues. Professor Bernstein makes some interesting points about questionable positions taken by “elite defense counsel” (read: […]
Archive | Junk Science and Quackspertise
The Misbegotten Judicial Resistance to the Daubert Revolution
I posted a link to a draft of this paper (when it had a different title). It’s now been published in the Notre Dame Law Review, and here’s the final version.
What Julia Ioffe Has Against Jenny McCarthy
Julia Ioffe writes on having pertussis, aka “whooping cough,” in The New Republic: At this writing, I have been coughing for 72 days. Not on and off coughing, but continuously, every day and every night, for two and a half months. And not just coughing, but whooping: doubled over, body clenched, sucking violently for air, […]
The Elite Defense Bar and Expert Evidence
I was recently discussing with someone the record of the elite defense bar with regard to the law of expert testimony, and it’s not a happy history. Elite defense lawyers have often steered their clients in the wrong direction, to wit: (1) In the early 1980s, when toxic tort cases were just beginning, defense lawyers […]
Adversarial Bias Among Forensic Psychologists
In my recent academic work on expert testimony, I’ve emphasized the problem of “adversarial bias,” bias that arises because experts are chosen (and paid) by a partisan party to the litigation. Adversarial bias could involve a “hired gun,” an individual who unconsciously biases his testimony to be a good member of the team, or an […]
Bendectin is Back
Thirty years after Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals pulled the morning sickness drug Bendectin off the American market in response to a waive of junk science-inspired claims that it caused limb reduction birth defects, the product is returning to the market under a new name with a new manufacturer. Contrary to what one might reasonably surmise from […]
Science, Political Ignorance, and Deference to “Authoritative” Experts
By Ilya Somin on March 6, 2013 7:39 pm in Junk Science and Quackspertise, Political Ignorance, Politicizing Science, Public Opinion
Economist David Friedman has an insightful post on the problems inherent in deferring to the views of “authoritative” scientific bodies: A pattern I have observed in a variety of public controversies is the attempt to establish some sort of official scientific truth, as proclaimed by a suitable authority—a committee of the National Academy of Science, […]
Carbon-Free Carbohydrates?
By Jonathan H. Adler on September 11, 2012 9:32 am in Junk Science and Quackspertise, Politicizing Science
What’s wrong with this picture? (Or this site?) I generally have a laissez-faire attitude toward product claims, so long as they are arguably true. If a claim is literally false, however, I think that’s a problem. (Ht: Hanah Volokh)
How Not to Label Biotech Foods
By Jonathan H. Adler on August 31, 2012 8:15 am in Food and Drink, Freedom of Speech, Junk Science and Quackspertise, Politicizing Science
In November, Californians will vote on Proposition 37, a ballot initiative to impose a mandatory labeling requirement on all foods produced with or from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). For reasons I discuss in this New Atlantis article, this requirement is unnecessary, unwise and potentially unconstitutional. The effort has been endorsed by numerous progressive organizations and […]
Williams and the New Wigmore
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court issued a fractured opinion in Williams v. Illinois, a Confrontation Clause case. The bad news (for just about everyone) is that this opinion hopelessly muddles things. The good news (for me and my co-authors) is that four different Justices cited the treatise I co-authored with Penn State’s David Kaye […]
No Vaccines? You’re Fired!
When my younger daughter was getting some of her first vaccinations, I asked our pediatrician how he would feel if we refused to have her vaccinated. His reply: “I’d ask you to find another doctor.” This point of view appears to be spreading. As the WSJ reports there is an apparent increase in the number of […]
Brilliant Man, Dumb Choice
Times: In his last years, Steven P. Jobs veered from exotic diets to cutting-edge treatments as he fought the cancer that ultimately took his life, according to a new biography to be published on Monday. His early decision to put off surgery and rely instead on fruit juices, acupuncture, herbal remedies and other treatments — […]
Bachmann Embraces Irresponsible Anti-Vaccine Views
By Jonathan H. Adler on September 13, 2011 12:35 pm in Junk Science and Quackspertise, Politicizing Science
Going on the offensive against Texas Governor Rick Perry for issuing an executive mandate that young girls receive a vaccine against HPV, Rep. Michele Bachman embraced the fringe (and thoroughly discredited) claim that vaccination can cause mental retardation. Details here and here. It is understandable that a parent whose child experiences difficulties will be distraught […]
Brian Leiter on Freud Again
I foolishly managed to once again entangle myself in a debate with Brian Leiter. There is at least one good reason not to try to engage in a reasoned blog debate with Leiter, which is that he doesn’t believe in it: I am sometimes presented with the following criticism: “Your rhetorical style won’t persuade anyone […]
District Judge: I Don’t Trust Psychologists, Who Are “All Over the Board” — But My Guess About Genetics “Fifty Years From Now” Is Rock-Hard Science
OK, that’s a bit of an exaggeration of what the district judge said, but not much. Prof. Nita Farahany (Law & Biosciences Digest) has the scoop, and a link to the decision (which came in late January). An excerpt from Prof. Farahany’s post: The Defendant in this case, convicted of possession of child pornography, was […]