Indeterminate Causes of Personal Injuries and Probabilistic Risk-Based Assessments

Abstract

In this article, the author proposes the following doctrinal rule to explain those leading Commonwealth cases that involve issues of causal uncertainty arising from the limits of scientific knowledge: where it is scientifically impossible for causation to be proved on a balance of probability, causation should nonetheless be deemed established when the defendant's breach of duty has materially increased the risk of an injury that had transpired or where the statistical probability that the defendant caused the injury in question is material.