The continuing search for proper perspective: whose reasonableness should be at issue in a prescription product design defect analysis?

This Article is based on a presentation given at Seton Hall University School of Law's Seventh Annual Health Law Symposium on February 12, 1999.     

Rationing care in the community: engaging citizens in health care decision making

This article examines the theoretical and practical logics of community engagement exercises in health care rationing. To evaluate such exercises in Canada, it is necessary to compare suspected rationing exercises (such as those in Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan) with clear examples of rationing. The Oregon Medicaid reform process is considered an important example of transparent and community-level rationing from which Canadian executive-driven governments can learn a few valuable lessons. While the Oregon experiment seems to have been a (qualified) success, in the Canadian context, formal citizen participation in decision making might be incompatible with social rights and present an incongruous and antagonistic pairing of executive and popular sources of authority.     

Methodological challenges to government sampling techniques in civil fraud and abuse cases

This Article discusses the use of statistical sampling in Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse audits. The author reviews cases in which government sampling methodologies have been challenged. Finally, the author describes the various alternatives available for challenging the validity of the statistical sampling used by the government in its audits.     

The significance of linguistic characteristics within the framework of proof of authorship: attempts and goals in forensic linguistics

The paper reflects the current state of the art in forensic linguistics and discusses the fundamental problem of the determination of the significance of linguistic features that are the basis of linguistic reports. A method is proposed that supplements the computer-assisted method of the BKA.     

Fixed Investment and Economic Growth in China

This paper attempts to investigate empirically the investment-growth relationship in China. Using the exogeneity framework pioneered by Engle et al. (1983) and Engle and Hendry (1993), we find that fixed investment is a key determinant of China's economic growth, which, surprisingly, has not been rigorously examined in the literature. The super exogeneity test results suggest that there exists a robust (or structurally invariant) relationship between capital formation and income growth, thereby giving credence to policy evaluation.     

RECONSIDERING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SES AND DELINQUENCY: CAUSATION BUT NOT CORRELATION*

Many theories of crime have linked low levels of socioeconomic status (SES) to high levels of delinquency. However, empirical studies have consistently found weak or nonexistent correlations between individuals' SES and their self-reported delinquent behavior. Drawing upon recent theoretical innovations (Hagan et al., 1985; Jensen, 1993; Tittle, 1995), we propose that this apparent contradiction between theory and data may be reconciled by recognizing that SES has both a negative and a positive indirect effect upon delinquency that, in tandem, results in little overall correlation between the two. We tested this proposal with longitudinal data from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. We used measures of parental SES recorded at study members' birth through age 15, social-psychological characteristics at age 18, and self-reported delinquency at ages 18 and 21. We found that low SES promoted delinquency by increasing individuals' alienation, financial strain, and aggression and by decreasing educational and occupational aspirations, whereas high SES promoted individuals' delinquency by increasing risk taking and social power and by decreasing conventional values. These findings suggest a reconciliation between theory and data, and they underscore the conceptual importance of elucidating the full range of causal linkages between SES and delinquency.