Messy Causation, Individuation and Differentiation: A Reply to Kissel, Conor Spence
Abstract | Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective
Do ice cream sales cause shark attacks? They increase together during the year. The statistical association between them is very clear. Yet the […] The post Confusing Correlation with Causation appeared first on Social Science Space.| Social Science Space
Today’s blog entry comes out of the Eighth Circuit, where just don’t see a lot of ADA cases. This case, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Drivers Management, LLC, is a published decision decided on July 10, 2025, and can be found here. The case explores several topics including: 1) direct evidence; 2) logistical undue hardship;... Continue Reading| Understanding the ADA
Back in the first week of this month, I posted about a paper (Prada 2025),[1] which featured a so-called navigation-guide systematic review of the scientific evidence on the issue whether pregnant women’s ingestion of acetaminophen causes their children to develop autism.[2] The focus of my post was on some dodgy aspects of the Prada review, […]| Schachtman Law
Specific causation causes some courts to become costive, and sometimes, courts overuse so-called differential etiology as a laxative. The phrase “differential etiology” is an analogy to differential diagnosis, the reasoning process by which clinicians assess the identity of a disease or disorder. Differential etiology, like laxatives, can be overused and misused.| Schachtman Law
A few weeks ago, four scientists published what they called a “navigation guide” systematic review on acetaminophen use and autism.[1] The last named author, Andrea A. Baccarelli, is an environmental epidemiologist, who has been an expert witness for plaintiffs’ counsel in lawsuits against the manufacturers and sellers of acetaminophen. Another author, Beate Ritz, frequently testifies […]| Schachtman Law
Back in September 2023, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), with its Center for Scientific Responsibility and Justice, sponsored a two day meeting on Scientific Evidence and the Courts. If there were notices for this conference, I missed them. The meeting presentations are now available online. Judging from camera views of the […]| Schachtman Law
The United States is in political crisis as its citizens are frogmarched into an authoritarian, illiberal, and unlawful dystopia. The seriousness of the political situation makes it difficult to focus on scientific issues, but as with past fascist regimes in history, the crisis is not limited to any one sphere of life in the United States.| Schachtman Law
There is plenty of room for a healthy science-based environmentalism, but finding the room in the American political house has always been difficult. The current administration brings together the horseshoe wacko excesses of the worm-brained Robert Kennedy, Jr., and the crony capitalism of Felonious Trump. In this toxic, post-truth milieu, environmental groups such as Sierra Club and Greenpeace are both complaining about their setbacks,[1] as well as stepping up their own propaganda.| Schachtman Law
Abstract | Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective
On May 20, 2025, as announced, FDA Commissioner Martin Makary held his panel discussion on talc in food and medications.[1] The discussion lasted just under two hours, and is available on YouTube for your viewing and perhaps your amusement. Makary opened and closed the event with what could have been the plaintiffs’ opening and closing […]| Schachtman Law
Another multi-district litigation (MDL) has hit a jarring speed bump. Claims for Parkinson’s disease (PD), allegedly caused by exposure to paraquat dichloride (paraquat), were consolidated, in June 2021, for pre-trial coordination in MDL No. 3004, in the Southern District of Illinois, before Chief Judge Nancy J. Rosenstengel. Like many health-effects litigation claims, the plaintiffs’ claims in these paraquat cases turn on epidemiologic evidence. To make their causation case in the first ...| Schachtman Law
