As courts have shifted their focus from trying to deal efficiently with toxic-tort litigation to guarding against unreliable science, litigating causation has become exceedingly difficult. As a result, Texas now has three forms of causation: general, specific and substantial factor.
The three opinions framing the causation question in Texas are: Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals v. Havner (1997), Ford Motor Co. v. Ledesma (2007 ) and Borg-Warner v. Flores (2007). Should the Texas Supreme Court affirm Bostic v. Georgia Pacific (2011), it would be hard to imagine any multidefendant toxic-tort cases filed in Texas again.
