Opinion ID: 2302332
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Superior Court's Opinion

Text: The Superior Court majority was very critical of Judge Colville's treatment of the Frye challenge on several fronts. First, the majority rejected the court's threshold finding of novelty. According to the majority, the defendants' Frye motion and supporting proffers were premised entirely upon the favorable epidemiological studies they offered and had nothing to do with the mechanics of Dr. Maddox's methodology. [11] See Betz, 998 A.2d at 975. Thus, the majority regarded Judge Colville's review of such mechanics, and decision not to address the epidemiological studies, as inapt. See id. Further, the majority attributed to Judge Colville a preconceived opinion on the ultimate issue of general acceptance, which was grounded in his own personal concerns with the extrapolation-down methodology. See id. While finding error in the threshold determination, the Superior Court nevertheless proceeded to review Judge Colville's finding as to general acceptance, concluding that he had abused his discretion. See id. at 976. Initially, the majority recognized that the burden of proof in a Frye hearing is on the proponent of the scientific evidence, in this case, Appellee. See Grady, 576 Pa. at 558, 839 A.2d at 1045. The majority then summarized Dr. Maddox's testimony, referencing his reliance on scientific literature, case reports, the Helsinki criteria, in-vitro studies, and government publications. See Betz, 998 A.2d at 976. The majority also noted Dr. Maddox's rejection of the epidemiological evidence concerning brake mechanics, as well as similar testimony by other expert witnesses in asbestos litigation. See id. According to the majority, [t]he Friction Product Defendants did not respond with any expert testimony that Dr. Maddox's methodology . . . is not a generally accepted method for evaluating the causes of asbestos-related disease. Id. Indeed, the majority regarded various testimony presented by the defendants' experts as being consistent with the pathologist's statements. See id. at 976-77. [12] With regard to the Helsinki criteria, the court observed that an expert relied upon by the defendants had testified in other litigation that these are generally accepted. See id. at 977. The court also suggested that the only medical doctor upon whom the defendants relied could not testify, in other litigation at least, that the methodology upon which Dr. Maddox relied was not generally accepted. See id. at 977-78. As a centerpiece of its opinion, the majority returned to the idea that Judge Colville had sua sponte questioned the validity of extrapolation from scientific findings pertaining to high-dose exposures to low-dose scenarios. See Betz, 998 A.2d at 978-79. According to the majority, the common pleas court's approach violated the tenet that judges are to be guided by the scientists in assessing the reliability of a scientific method, not the reverse. See id. at 979 (citing Grady, 576 Pa. at 557, 839 A.2d at 1044-45). Moreover, on the record discussed above, the majority stated we have been unsuccessful in finding any record support for the trial court's analysis or conclusions. Id. at 980. Additionally, the Superior Court relied on Trach as approving methodologies incorporating extrapolation. See id. at 980-81 ([I]n Trach this Court concluded that scientists may extrapolate from a `sound scientific basis' when formulating opinions about the etiology of disease, and that in these circumstances the use of extrapolation is `not novel' (quoting Trach, 817 A.2d at 1118-19)). The majority recognized that Trach involved extrapolation from the effects resulting from a smaller dose to a larger one, rather than the converse, but it found such distinction to be irrelevant, as the Trach court made no such distinction. See id. Furthermore, the majority found support in Ferebee v. Chevron Chemical Co., 736 F.2d 1529 (D.C.Cir.1984), which the majority believed involved an extrapolation down scenario. Moreover, the majority quoted Ferebee for the proposition that: Judges, both trial and appellate, have no special competence to resolve the complex and refractory causal issues raised by the attempt to link low-level exposure to toxic chemicals with human disease. On questions such as these, which stand at the frontier of current medical and epidemiological inquiry, if experts are willing to testify that such a link exists, it is for the jury to decide whether to credit such testimony. Betz, 998 A.2d at 982 (quoting Ferebee, 736 F.2d at 1534). Finally, the Superior Court acknowledged that, in Gregg v. V-J Auto Parts Co., 596 Pa. 274, 943 A.2d 216 (2007), this Court rejected the any-exposure opinion, as baldly stated in an expert report, as sufficient to overcome a plaintiff's threshold burden of product identification. See Betz, 998 A.2d at 982. Given the context of Gregg, however, the majority deemed it to be of limited relevance to the matter at hand. See id. Indeed, the majority observed, another en banc Superior Court panel recently had rejected a similar Frye challenge. See Estate of Hicks v. Dana Cos., 984 A.2d 943 (Pa.Super.2009) ( en banc ). In her concurring opinion, Judge Shogan agreed that Trach was instructive. Presumably in light of the tone set by the majority, however, she offered a defense of Judge Colville, highlighting the difficulty of his task and crediting him for his well-intentioned and conscientious efforts to address a confusing area of the law arising in a mass tort setting. See Betz, 998 A.2d at 984 (Shogan, J., concurring).