Sunday, October 05, 2003

IBM Moves to Exclude Epidemiologist's Analysis of Its "Corporate Mortality File"

Reuters reports on an impending motion in limine by IBM in a California lawsuit brought in Santa Clara Superior Court by two former employees who claim that hazardous chemicals at the workplace caused their cancers. The employees retained Boston University epidemiologist Dr. Richard Clapp to analyze IBM's "corporate mortality file," which collects health records and information for 30,000 IBM employees over a 30-year period. Dr. Clapp's findings show a higher than normal incidence of cancer. IBM calls the records incomplete and says they do not link health outcomes to any chemical. It also says that Dr. Clapp's analysis is scientifically flawed.

This is sure to be a recurring battle, with similar health claims against IBM pending on behalf of over 200 workers in three separate states.

posted by pn at 10:21 PM  

Fed. R. Evid. 702: If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise, if (1) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data, (2) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case.