Specific causation addresses the individual: whether this plaintiff's exposure was sufficient to cause their disease and whether other explanations have been adequately excluded.
It typically requires exposure quantification and a differential etiology ruling out alternative causes.
Alternative Names:
Individual Causation, Case-Specific Causation
Why it Matters?
Specific causation is where individual cases are won even after general causation is established, and the defense arguments are concrete: exposure below any level associated with disease, a latency period inconsistent with the alleged exposure, and alternative causes such as smoking, genetics, or other occupational exposures that the plaintiff's expert did not adequately address. An expert who never quantified the exposure faces an analytical gap challenge regardless of general causation.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
How does specific causation differ from general causation?
What defeats specific causation?
