If Rule 702 is supposed to keep unreliable expert opinions out, this decision raises a fair question: how many gaps are too many? In In re Covidien Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation, 2026 WL 1129617 (D. Mass. Apr. 27, 2026), the court considered a familiar lineup of expert opinions—general causation, specific causation, alternative design
Differential diagnosis
Unreliable Specific Causation Opinions Take Down Valsartan Bellwether
Back in April, we pondered whether the new judge in the Valsartan MDL would change things for the better. In contrast to the Zantac MDL, which was established a year later and has proceeded on a very similar contamination theory, the first several years of the Valsartan MDL saw a bunch of bad rulings on…
Ninth Circuit Gets On Board With The Rule 702 Amendments
Not that long ago (last time we posted), the Sixth Circuit issued an unpublished opinion that affirmed the exclusion of an expert (yay!) but missed the boat on the amendments to Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and its reinforcement of the expert exclusion test (boo!).
Today, we get to tell you about a…
Differential Diagnosis At Its Worst In Vaccine Litigation
Recently, when we have spoken of vaccine litigation, it has mostly been about challenges to public health policies requiring vaccination against COVID-19 for healthcare workers, students at public universities, etc. We have been pleased to report that these challenges have been failing without lingering too long at the trial court level, like here, here…
