Appellate Court Revives Acetaminophen-Autism Cases Without Deciding the Merits of ... - JD Supra
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A federal appeals court revived autism-acetaminophen lawsuits by ruling expert testimony was wrongly excluded — without saying whether the science actually holds up.
Daubert StandardBurden of ProofCausal InferencePrincipal-Agent Problem
Theory Briefing
- The Second Circuit found the Manhattan district court improperly excluded expert testimony, sending the cases back without ruling on the underlying science.
- The ruling revives a wave of lawsuits claiming prenatal acetaminophen exposure is linked to autism — a causal claim still fiercely contested among researchers.
- The decision turns on who gets to be heard in court, not on whether the acetaminophen-autism theory is valid.
- Letting disputed expert testimony back in could reshape how mass tort cases involving contested science are litigated going forward.