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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Inability To Self-Diagnose Bias, Christopher Robertson
The Inability To Self-Diagnose Bias, Christopher Robertson
Faculty Scholarship
The Constitution guarantees litigants an 'impartial' jury, one that bases its judgment on the evidence presented in the courtroom, untainted by affiliations with the parties, racial animus, or media coverage that may include inadmissible facts, a one-sided portrayal, and naked opinion. Problems of juror bias arise in almost every trial – state and federal, civil and criminal - and the problem is most severe in the highest profile cases, where the need for accuracy and legitimacy in outcomes is most salient.
The Supreme Court has instructed courts to use a simple method to determine whether jurors are biased: ask them. …
Effect Of Financial Relationships On The Behaviors Of Health Care Professionals: A Review Of The Evidence, Christopher Robertson, Susannah Rose, Aaron Kesselheim
Effect Of Financial Relationships On The Behaviors Of Health Care Professionals: A Review Of The Evidence, Christopher Robertson, Susannah Rose, Aaron Kesselheim
Faculty Scholarship
This symposium paper explores the empirical evidence regarding the impact of financial relationships on the behavior of health care providers, specifically, physicians. We identify and synthesize peer-reviewed data addressing whether financial incentives are causally related to patient outcomes and health care costs. We cover three main areas where financial conflicts of interest arise and may have an observable relationship to health care practices: physicians’ roles as self-referrers, insurance reimbursement schemes that create incentives for certain clinical choices over others, and financial relationships between physicians and the drug and device industries. We found a well-developed scientific literature consisting of dozens of …
Blind Expertise, Christopher Robertson
Blind Expertise, Christopher Robertson
Faculty Scholarship
The United States spends many billions of dollars on its system of civil litigation, and expert witnesses appear in a huge portion of cases. Yet litigants select and retain expert witnesses in ways that create the appearance of biased hired guns on both sides of every case, thereby depriving factfinders of a clear view of the facts. As a result, factfinders too often arrive at the wrong conclusions, thus undermining the deterrence and compensation functions of litigation. Court-appointment of experts has been widely proposed as a solution, yet it raises legitimate concerns about accuracy and has failed to gain traction …