Pooshs v. Phillip Morris USA, Inc.

287 F.R.D. 543, 2012 WL 6044839, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 172727
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedDecember 5, 2012
DocketNo. C 04-1221 PJH
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 287 F.R.D. 543 (Pooshs v. Phillip Morris USA, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pooshs v. Phillip Morris USA, Inc., 287 F.R.D. 543, 2012 WL 6044839, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 172727 (N.D. Cal. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER

PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON, District Judge.

Before the court are the motions of defendants Philip Morris USA (“PM”), R.J. Reyn[546]*546olds Tobacco Company (“RJR”), and Hill and Knowlton, Inc. (now known as Hill & Knowl-ton Strategies LLC) to exclude the opinions and testimony of four of plaintiffs experts— Dr. Valerie B. Yerger, Robert Johnson, Dr. Allen H. Smith, and Dr. K. Michael Cummings. Having read the parties’ papers and carefully considered their arguments and the relevant legal authority, the court hereby rules as follows.

DISCUSSION

A. Legal Standard

A witness who has been qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may give an opinion on scientific, technical, or otherwise specialized topics if (1) the expert’s scientific, technical, or other special knowledge will help the trier of fact understand the evidence or determine a fact in issue, (2) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data, (3) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (4) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case. Fed.R.Evid. 702; see also Dau-bert v. Merrell Dow Pharms., Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993).

The proponent of expert testimony bears the burden of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that the admissibility requirements are met. See Fed.R.Evid. 702, Advisory Committee Notes. Although there is a presumption of admissibility, Daubert, 509 U.S. at 588,113 S.Ct. 2786, the trial court is obliged to act as a “gatekeeper” with regard to the admission of expert scientific testimony under Rule 702. Id. at 597, 113 S.Ct. 2786; see also Kumho Tire Co., Ltd. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137, 147, 119 S.Ct. 1167,143 L.Ed.2d 238 (1999).

Thus, Daubert requires a two-part analysis. The court first determines whether an expert’s testimony reflects “scientific knowledge,” whether the findings are “derived by the scientific method,” and whether the work product is “good science” — that is, whether the testimony is reliable and trustworthy. Daubert, 509 U.S. at 590 & n. 9, 593, 113 S.Ct. 2786. The court then determines whether the testimony is “relevant to the task at hand.” Id. at 597,113 S.Ct. 2786.

Scientific evidence is reliable if it is based on an assertion that is grounded in methods of science — -the focus is on principles and methodology, not on conclusions. Metabolife Int’l, Inc. v. Womick, 264 F.3d 832, 841 (9th Cir.2001). In determining whether an expert’s reasoning or methodology is scientifically valid, the district court can consider “many factors,” including (1) whether a scientific theory or technique can be (and has been) tested; (2) whether the theory or technique has been subjected to peer review and publication; (3) whether there is a known or potential error rate; and (4) whether the theory or technique is generally accepted in the relevant scientific community. See Daubert, 509 U.S. at 593-95, 113 S.Ct. 2786; Fed.R.Evid. 702, 2000 Advisory Committee Notes; see also Barabin v. Asten-Johnson, Inc., 700 F.3d 428, 431 (9th Cir. 2012) (citation and quotation omitted).

Nevertheless, depending on the type of expert testimony offered, these factors may not be appropriate to assess reliability. Kumho Tire, 526 U.S. at 150,119 S.Ct. 1167. Other factors that might be considered include whether an expert has unjustifiably extrapolated from an accepted premise to an unfounded conclusion, see General Elec. Co. v. Joiner, 522 U.S. 136, 146, 118 S.Ct. 512, 139 L.Ed.2d 508 (1997); or whether an expert has adequately accounted for obvious alternative explanations, see Claar v. Burlington Northern R. Co., 29 F.3d 499, 502 (9th Cir.1994).

The trial court should also be mindful that reliability is not determined based on the “correctness of the expert’s conclusions but the soundness of his methodology.” Stilwell v. Smith & Nephew, Inc., 482 F.3d 1187, 1192 (9th Cir.2007) (quotation omitted). A methodology may not be reliable if an expert “fail[s] to address and exclude alternative explanations for the data on which he bases his findings” or “rejectfs] studies reporting contrary empirical findings.” Carnegie Mellon Univ. v. Hoffmann-LaRoche, Inc., 55 F.Supp.2d 1024,1034-35 (N.D.Cal.1999).

[547]*547In addition, a court may exclude expert testimony on the ground that an expert’s purported methodology fails to explain his final conclusion. Joiner, 522 U.S. at 146, 118 S.Ct. 512 (“[N]othing in either Daubert or the Federal Rules of Evidence requires a district court to admit opinion evidence that is connected to existing data only by the ipse dixit of the expert. A court may conclude that there is simply too great an analytical gap between the data and the opinion proffered.”). The trial court should ensure the expert “employs in the courtroom the same level of intellectual rigor that characterizes the practice of an expert in the relevant field.” Kumho Tire, 526 U.S. at 152, 119 S.Ct. 1167. The court should also consider whether an expert prepared his methodology for purposes of litigation, or articulated the methodology before litigation and without any incentive to reach a particular outcome. See Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharms., Inc., 43 F.3d 1311,1317 (9th Cir.1995).

Rule 702’s second prong concerns relevancy, or “fit.” See Daubert, 509 U.S. at 591, 113 S.Ct. 2786. Expert opinion testimony is relevant if the knowledge underlying it has a “valid ... connection to the pertinent inquiry,” and it is reliable if the knowledge underlying it “has a reliable basis in the knowledge and experience of [the relevant] discipline.” Id. at 592,113 S.Ct. 2786; Kumho Tire, 526 U.S. at 149, 119 S.Ct. 1167.

B. Defendants’ Motions

1. Dr. Valerie B. Yerger

Dr. Yerger was trained as a naturopathic physician, although she does not currently practice in that field. She also has a certificate in counseling, but is not licensed as a psychologist or psychiatrist. Dr. Yerger is currently an Assistant Adjunct Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences in the School of Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco (“UCSF”). As an Assistant Adjunct, she has given approximately one lecture per year for the past eight years, on the subject of menthol. She is also on the faculty of the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education.

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287 F.R.D. 543, 2012 WL 6044839, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 172727, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pooshs-v-phillip-morris-usa-inc-cand-2012.