Daubert V. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Case Summary

Expert testimony, when it is offered within a trial, is a crucial element in trials. When there is expert testimony offered there are steps that need to be taken to ensure that the person giving the testimony is an expert, as we saw in the case of the United States v. Paul (1999). However, there is a procedure to enter this testimony and to determine its admissibility. This matter will be discussed as we review the case of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (1993). First there needs to be a little background on the case itself. The case of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (1993) is one concerning children who were born with birth defects. Jason Daubert and Eric Schuller were born with serious birth defects. They and

They alleged that the birth defects had been caused by the mothers' ingestion of Bendectin, a prescription anti nausea drug marketed by Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 2012). Merrell Dow contended that Bendectin did not cause birth defects in humans and that the petitioners would be unable to come forward with any evidence to prove otherwise. To support this claim, Merrell Dow submitted an affidavit from Steven H. Lamm. Steven H. Lamm was a physician and an epidemiologist. He was well credentialed expert on the risks from exposure to various chemical substances. Doctor Lamm stated, in the affidavit, that he had reviewed all the literature on Bendectin and human birth defects. This involved more than 30 published studies of over 130,000 patients. He states that no study had found Bendectin to be a human teratogen, or a substance capable of causing malformations in fetuses (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 2012). To rebut this testimonial evidence, the petitioners wanted to have eight of their own experts, who all had impressive credentials, submit their findings on Bendectin. They all concluded that tests that were done on animals, both live and in vitro, showed that there was