환경오염으로 인한 건강피해소송에서 역학연구를 통한 인과관계의 입증 -판례법리를 중심으로-

The judicial doctrines concerning proving causal relationship between toxic substances and certain humane diseases are able to be summarized as follows: (1) the questioned casuality could be said to have been proved if the condition was met that both of the generic causality that the certain disease may be generally caused by exposure to the certain toxic substances and the individual causality that the certain disease occurred after the victims had been exposed to the certain toxic substances were evidenced. (2) epidemiological causation, or epidemiological correlation is a kind of statistical associations. Therefore, the epidemiological results were able to be permitted for proving the generic causality, but not for proving the individual causality. (3) As to specific diseases, it was demonstrated that the disease had been caused after the exposure of the victims to the certain toxic substances, then causal relationship between the substances and the diseases seems to be prima facie proved. In contrast to specific diseases, as to non-specific diseases legal associations of the questioned disease with the certain substance ascertained are said to have been proved only if it was recognized that the dangerous substance had probably caused the disease by virtue of evidencing exposure period and frequence, disease occurrence period, the state of health before exposure to the substances, life style, the changing variables of disease state, and family history of the disease. It might not be able to be denied that the way of approach of the Supreme Court that differentiated the non-specific diseases from specific diseases in applying epidemiological results for proving the associations of the substances with the diseases is rational. Nevertheless, the epidemiological results are to be conferred evidential weighs if they were concluded on the basis of the epidemiological surveys that had been conducted according to the standard criteria, procedures and methods capable of being accepted within associated disciplines.