Opinion ID: 1153595
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Testimony Satisfies Frye

Text: Even if subject to Frye, testimony linking trauma to fibromyalgia satisfies it. The purpose of Frye is to ensure the reliability of expert testimony. See, e.g., Hadden, 690 So.2d at 578 (Reliability is fundamental to issues involved in the admissibility of evidence.); Berry, 709 So.2d at 568 (At this admissibility stage of the proceedings, under Frye the court is asked to decide whether the basis of the evidence upon which plaintiffs' experts rely has a sufficient indicia of reliability.). Numerous published articles and studies recognize an association between trauma and fibromyalgia. [3] Respondents' own expert testified that he has seen situations where he thought trauma indirectly led to fibromyalgia. A lack of studies conclusively demonstrating a causal link between trauma and fibromyalgia and calls for further research do not preclude admission of the testimony. See Castillo, 854 So.2d at 1270 (While epidemiology is considered generally accepted in the scientific community as a way of studying causal links between disease and chemicals, these types of studies are not necessarily required for a party to meet its burden of showing a causal link by a preponderance of the evidence.); U.S. Sugar, 823 So.2d at 110 ([I]t is well settled that a lack of epidemiological studies does not defeat submission of expert testimony and opinions as expressed in this case.); Berry, 709 So.2d at 568 n. 12 ([T]he fact that an epidemiological study calls for further research does not indicate uncertainty on the part of the researchers.). Frye does not require unanimity. Brim, 695 So.2d at 272. While the precise etiology of fibromyalgia may not be fully understood, we hold that Marsh has sufficiently demonstrated the reliability of her experts' testimony, and the trial court erred in excluding it. See Berry, 709 So.2d at 568 (While . . . there continues to be scientific debate . . . we find the epidemiological science and methodology underlying [the expert's] testimony to be established, reliable, and well-founded.).