Day 254 - 22 May 96 - Page 40
1
2 Q. But the point I am putting to go you is that although it
3 may say 'may', it is not just a some kind of unlikely
4 possibility, it is what they seriously consider is a risk
5 factor, and it is just that right now if there would ever
6 be there is not 100 per cent conclusive proof?
7 A. I am not sure I understand fully what you are saying
8 but I do not know that you can actually put words into
9 these people's mouths. What they are basically trying to
10 do is to exclude from their analysis variables which have
11 been reported in other studies, so that ----
12
13 Q. I am not talking about the study this morning, I used as an
14 example the fact that some people have proposed, because
15 those variables or made adjustments or some people have
16 proposed a link to ----
17 A. Social class.
18
19 Q. Well, to graduation, whatever it is.
20
21 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I thought affluence. Are you distinguishing
22 social class -- it occurred to me that graduation,
23 certainly I see that one is going past graduation, so that
24 they are doing postgraduate studies at university or
25 college, largely American studies, but that to some extent
26 went in some degree with affluence as well?
27 A. Yes, I was using social class in a loose way as well in
28 relating that to affluence.
29
30 MR. JUSTICE BELL: 'May' must mean 'may'?
31
32 MS. STEEL: It might mean 'may', but the point is there is never
33 100 per cent proof of anything.
34
35 MR. JUSTICE BELL: But 'may' is a possibility rather than a
36 probability. As I read these articles that is what it
37 normally means. Sometimes, I have to say, through years
38 and years of experience of sitting in consultation with
39 doctors they are not the best at distinguishing between
40 possibly's and probables?
41 A. That is correct.
42
43 Q. Which are a lawyer's bread and water. The distinction is
44 vital to a lawyer. It is not always to a doctor. But do
45 you have any reason to believe that in the reports you have
46 made 'may' has been used less than 'advisedly'?
47 A. No, my Lord, I would say that 'may' has been used very
48 carefully in these reports.
49
50 MS. STEEL: The reality is that these bodies are making these
51 recommendations because they consider that it is a serious
52 risk not because it is a vague possibility.
53 A. I do not think that you can actually say that, because
54 you are putting an interpretation on what the body feels,
55 and I do not know what they feel. What they are trying, I
56 believe, to do is to give general advice to the population
57 at large which is sensible advice. No more than that.
58
59 MR. MORRIS: Can I say, I do not think 'may' in scientific terms
60 is the same as 'may' in a court of room.
