HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (29) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Greenland, S Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Greenland, S

Relation of probability of causation to relative risk and doubling dose: a methodologic error that has become a social problem.

S Greenland

Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles 90290-3434, USA.

Epidemiologists, biostatisticians, and health physicists frequently serve as expert consultants to lawyers, courts, and administrators. One of the most common errors committed by experts is to equate, without qualification, the attributable fraction estimated from epidemiologic data to the probability of causation requested by courts and administrators. This error has become so pervasive that it has been incorporated into judicial precedents and legislation. This commentary provides a brief overview of the error and the context in which it arises.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. Allard and J.-F. Boivin Using causal models to show the effect of untestable assumptions on effect estimates in randomized controlled trials Clinical Trials, December 1, 2007; 4(6): 611 - 620. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. L. Melnick A Daubert Motion: A Legal Strategy to Exclude Essential Scientific Evidence in Toxic Tort Litigation Am J Public Health, July 1, 2005; 95(S1): S30 - S34. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Greenland Model-based Estimation of Relative Risks and Other Epidemiologic Measures in Studies of Common Outcomes and in Case-Control Studies Am. J. Epidemiol., August 15, 2004; 160(4): 301 - 305. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]