In the Initial Test of the Salk Vaccine for Polio

question 56

Essay

In the initial test of the Salk vaccine for polio, 400,000 children were selected and divided into two groups of200,000. One group was vaccinated with the Salk vaccine while the second group was vaccinated with aplacebo. Of those vaccinated with the Salk vaccine, 33 later developed polio. Of those receiving the placebo, 115later developed polio. Test the hypothesis that the Salk vaccine is effective in lowering the polio rate. Useα = 0.01.

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Definitions:

Elements of Causation

Fundamental components required to establish a cause-and-effect relationship in a legal context, typically including direct cause, foreseeability, and harm.

Proximate Cause

The primary cause that in a natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any efficient intervening cause, produces an event and without which the event would not have occurred.

Cause in Fact

A legal principle that establishes an event as the direct cause of an injury, required for proving negligence.

Res Ipsa Loquitur

A doctrine in tort law that infers negligence from the very nature of an accident or injury, in the absence of direct evidence on how any defendant behaved.