Opinion ID: 1152623
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: WASHINGTON AND THE Frye STANDARD

Text: In a recent criminal case considering the admissibility of DNA evidence, this court explained the relationship between the Frye general acceptance standard and ER 702. State v. Cauthron, 120 Wn.2d 879, 887, 846 P.2d 502 (1993). We held that when novel scientific evidence is at issue, courts apply Frye's general acceptance standard as an initial inquiry in determining admissibility. Cauthron, 120 Wn.2d at 887. Once the proposed scientific evidence is deemed to be generally accepted, then the court addresses the requirements of ER 702. Cauthron, 120 Wn.2d at 887. In criminal cases, we follow this rule in addressing the admissibility of expert scientific evidence, but never has it been, nor now should it be, adopted as the rule in civil cases. Before the adoption of the Rules of Evidence, no Washington appellate decision had applied Frye in a civil case. Since the adoption of the Rules of Evidence in 1979, only four reported civil cases have used a Frye -type analysis in applying ER 702 and ER 703 to scientific or medical evidence. In re Young, 122 Wn.2d 1, 857 P.2d 989 (1993) ( Frye applied separately from ER 702 in a civil commitment proceeding); In re Petersen, 120 Wn.2d 833, 846 P.2d 1330 (1993) (citing a criminal case, without discussion or comment, for the proposition that in an attorney disciplinary proceeding ER 702 requires expert opinion to be based on an explanatory theory generally accepted in the scientific community); Intalco Aluminum Corp. v. Department of Labor & Indus., 66 Wn. App. 644, 833 P.2d 390 (1992) (holding the general acceptance in the scientific community requirement applies to the methods used by expert medical witnesses, not to their conclusions), review denied, 120 Wn.2d 1031 (1993); Burkett v. Northern, 43 Wn. App. 143, 715 P.2d 1159 (holding ER 702 allows a trial court to use the Frye general acceptance standard to assess the reliability of a theory or methodology propounded in an expert opinion and offered in a novel field), review denied, 106 Wn.2d 1008 (1986). These cases do not individually, nor as a group, support the majority's holding that the Frye rule applies in civil cases addressing the admissibility of novel scientific evidence. Additional reasons exist that require a distinction in approaches between civil and criminal cases. See Reese, 74 Wn. App. at 557. The primary reason for this distinction arises out of differences in the burden of proof  beyond a reasonable doubt in criminal cases, and a preponderance of the evidence in civil cases. Additionally, in the criminal context where the power of the State stands in marked disproportion to the resources of most defendants, the State should be forced to clear the initial obstacle of general acceptance as described in Frye. Reese, 74 Wn. App. at 558-59. This higher burden of admissibility is required to protect the liberty interests of defendants. Higher burdens are not required, however, in the civil context because the parties are generally more evenly situated and better prepared to address the evidence of the opposing party. Reese, 74 Wn. App. at 559. Because both parties have the resources to present expert testimony on scientific evidence, ER 702 (as discussed infra ) performs the necessary function of insuring evidentiary reliability and relevance. The Daubert analysis of ER 702 provides a more appropriate analytical framework under which to argue and have rulings on the admissibility of scientific evidence. This case provides a third reason for not applying Frye as a preliminary hurdle in civil cases: the difficulty in determining what is or is not novel scientific evidence. The majority, in its effort to assess the novelty of Prolastin augmentation therapy to treat AAT deficiency, demonstrates this difficulty. In support of its determination that Prolastin augmentation therapy is not novel, the majority states, Prolastin therapy has proven valuable in treating other serum protein deficiencies such as hemophilia. Majority at 303. This incorrectly confuses the theory behind Prolastin augmentation therapy with the therapy itself. Augmentation therapy is the process of supplementing a substance found in the blood that is not present or present in an inadequate amount. The lack of certain serum proteins in the blood has been identified as the cause of some medical conditions. For example, patients with hemophilia A suffer from an inadequate supply of the blood serum protein Factor VIII. See Leon W. Hoyer, Hemophilia A, 330 N. Eng. J. Med. 38 (Jan. 6, 1994). The treatment of hemophilia A involves augmenting the blood with concentrated Factor VIII taken from human donors. AAT deficiency is also a condition caused by the inadequate amount of a blood serum protein. While both hemophilia and AAT deficiency are caused by abnormal levels of a blood serum protein, the resulting conditions are completely unrelated: hemophilia is a bleeding disorder, while AAT deficiency affects the lungs and is one cause of emphysema. Prolastin is the trade name for purified human AAT drawn from human blood serum. Br. of Appellants at App. 2. Prolastin itself is used to treat only AAT deficiency; Prolastin is not used to treat hemophilia. The theory underlying augmentation therapy is not novel; however, the specific medical use of Prolastin augmentation therapy very well could be considered novel. Prolastin augmentation therapy is being used to treat a different type of condition caused by different blood protein interactions than those in patients with hemophilia. Factor VIII augmentation for hemophiliacs has been used as a treatment since the 1970s and the complex interactions of the proteins that result in the blood's ability to clot have been well documented. See Hoyer, at 38. The relationship between AAT deficiency and emphysema, however, was not well understood in 1989, two years after the FDA approved Prolastin for treating AAT deficiency in 1987. See American Thoracic Soc'y, Guidelines for the Approach to the Patient With Severe Hereditary Alpha-1-Antitrypsin Deficiency, 140 Am. Rev. Respir. Disease 1494, 1494 (1989). Identifying these differences between Prolastin augmentation therapy and augmentation therapy for conditions such as hemophilia illuminates the difficulties the trial court faced in determining the novelty of Prolastin augmentation therapy. The majority solves this by concluding, [a]n expert opinion regarding application of an accepted theory or methodology to a particular medical condition does not implicate Frye.  Majority at 307. Rather than clarifying the applicability of Frye, this ruling only raises additional questions. What is the methodology properly being considered  augmentation therapy or Prolastin augmentation therapy? What is the particular medical condition  abnormal blood serum protein levels or AAT deficiency? In this case, it is easy to see how the trial court could reach the conclusion that AAT augmentation therapy is novel. I would not extend the rule articulated in Cauthron to civil cases involving the admissibility of novel scientific evidence. Additionally and independently, a constructive application of ER 702 performs the necessary reliability and relevance assessment required in all cases involving scientific evidence.