Investigating Medical Murders | Stats + Stories Episode 281

Death happens in medical settings for all kinds of reasons. However, when a death is unexpected, it can leave loved ones grieving and investigators wondering whether it was a case of medical misconduct, or medical murder. When investigators decide to bring a case to trial, they often rely on statistics to make their argument. The Royal Statistical Society released a report this year about such cases, which is the focus of this episode of stats and stories with guest William C. Thompson. William C. Thompson is Professor Emeritus of Criminology, Law, and Society; Psychology and Social Behavior at the UCI School of Social Ecology interested in human factors associated with forensic science evidence, including contextual and cognitive bias in forensic analysis and the communication of scientific findings to lawyers and juries. He has written about the strengths and limitations of various types of forensic science evidence, particularly DNA evidence, and about the ability of lay juries to evaluate evidence.