Evidence, Co-Sponsored by Law, Medicine and Health Care

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This panel will discuss the key evidentiary issues associated with the opioid crisis. The CDC estimates that over 130 people die each day from opioid-related drug overdoses. The ripple effects can be felt in the uptick of criminal and civil cases related to this epidemic. As the opioid crisis makes its way into courts, evidence scholars and practitioners must consider the problems of proof that arise in this context, including the use of character evidence and prior bad acts, the use of causation, and the use of experts. Medical experts, in particular, create a unique dilemma. Pharmaceutical companies in the 1990s assured the medical community that opioid pain relievers were not addictive. Therefore, medical experts are caught in between. Health law and evidence scholars will engage with practitioners and offer legal and policy reforms that can begin to address the impact of the opioid epidemic on the legal system.