Amaca Pty Ltd v Ellis

Negligence – Causation - Balance of probabilities - Deceased was a smoker - Deceased exposed to respirable asbestos fibres in course of employment - Deceased died of lung cancer - No scientific or medical examination can say whether deceased's lung cancer caused by inhalation of tobacco smoke, respirable asbestos fibres, both, or neither - Use of epidemiological evidence - Whether epidemiological evidence founded inference of causation - "Synergistic" effect of smoking and exposure to asbestos fibres - Whether proved that exposure to asbestos more probably than not caused or contributed to deceased developing lung cancer - Relevance of material contribution.

Words and phrases – "epidemiology", "material contribution", "more probable than not", "relative risk", "synergistic effect".