U.S. Supreme Court: Causal Relationship Can be Based on Case Reports Without Statistical Significance

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Supreme Court has weighed in on the issue of statistical significance in case reports, opining that the idea that such significance be present in order to establish causation is "flawed." Matrixx Initiatives Inc., et al., No. 09-1156 (U.S. Sup. Ct.).

In the March 22 decision, the Supreme Court found that an intermediate appellate court was correct in reversing a ruling in favor of defendant Matrixx Initiatives Inc., since a "reasonable investor" would have relied on any information of adverse reports relating to the defendant's product.

Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the unanimous opinion.

The underlying …