Academic writing requires reference lists as they provide proper source attribution to build credibility in scholarly work. Reference list errors persist frequently across academic disciplines despite their significance.
Dr.Nancy | Clinical and Medical Research Expert
03 Apr, 2025
Dr.Nancy | Clinical and Medical Research Expert
03 Apr, 2025
Simply selecting the relevant medical studies is not sufficient to handle medico-legal cases for legal professionals. It is also essential to cross-check the studies for credibility, accuracy, validity, and strength of evidence. This assures that the data presented to the court collected from medical studies are credible and meet the standards [1].
This article highlights how the legal research ensures the quality of the studies, identifies the biases, and determines whether the evidence is sufficient for use in the medico-legal cases.
Legal cases involving medical malpractice, pharmaceutical controversies, or healthcare action rely heavily on medical substantiation. Proper appraisal helps to
By using structured appraisal, legal experimenters can challenge unreliable medical evidence and strengthen their legal arguments [2].
In 2022, Judge Robin Rosenberg rejected the scientific evidence from the plaintiffs and expert testimony in the Zantac litigation case due to lack of reliability and flaws in the methodology and results.
a) Valisure’s Methodology:
The test methodology used by the Valisure, an independent laboratory in the United States, was dismissed by the judge. Valisure tested the Zantac by heating the substance, which causes Ranitidine to convert into NDMA (N-Nitroso dimethylamine). They have claimed that the presence of NDMA exceeds the FDA’s maximum limit of 96 ng.
The judge rejected the claim, stating that the heating method used Valisure was not representative of real-life scenarios. At normal human temperature, NDMA levels do not reach the daily limit.
b) Stanford University Evidence:
The evidence from Stanford university was retracted by the author due to the contamination of the instrument. But the judge concluded that there was no conclusive evidence provided to directly link ranitidine to cancer [3].
Some of the key flaws identified for the rejection of the evidence in the court are:
Hence, use of Daubert standard is essential to ensure that the evidence submitted is scientifically sound, valid, and credible.
Systematic reviews and meta- analyses are at the top substantiation, but their trustability depends on how well they’re conducted [2]. A high-quality review must include:
The Daubert standard provides the criteria to be ensured prior to proceeding scientific evidence on courts. This ensures the expert testimony is valid, suitable for legal cases. If a review lacks originality or excludes crucial data, the findings may be unreliable, making them unsuitable for legal use [5].
Bias can occur at multiple stages of a meta- analysis or methodical review, including:
To minimize bias, experimenters should follow a predefined protocol for conducting reviews. This ensures that:
Example:
In AstraZeneca PLC Securities Litigation, the plaintiffs have identified some bias in the clinical trial data of the COVID vaccine manufactured by AstraZeneca. The plaintiffs filed lawsuit against the company for not disclosing the dosing error data in the clinical trials.
This bias led the investors to financial loss as the efficacy of the vaccine is not clearly represented. The plaintiffs argued that these actions constituted fraudulent claims under Securities Exchange Act [6].
Some associations, like the National Cancer Institute (NCI), have developed standard systems to estimate the quality of medical studies. The NCI system assigns:
For example, 1A indicates a high- quality randomized controlled trial (RCT) with strong survival issues, making it the most dependable type of substantiation.
Even though there is no universal standing system, the legal experimenters must estimate the study design, bias, and statistical strength [7].
When assessing medical studies for use in court cases, legal experimenters should ask:
By critically setting medical literature, legal brigades can
In medico-legal cases, the quality of medical substantiation can make or break a legal argument. Critical appraisal of studies ensures that legal brigades calculate on valid, unprejudiced, and scientifically sound research.
By assessing study design, bias, and statistical trustability, legal professionals can confidently use medical studies in action, assuring that medical evidence is both believable and permissible [2].
At Pubrica, our experts assist you in medico-legal cases with relevant, credible and higher standards of evidence. We use medical evidence that align with the patient’s goal and preferences