Citizenship and the standard of scientific evidence in allergy related tort litigations

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K12274
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 01080:Sociology of science, history of science and technology-related
• Research Institution: Okayama University
• Principal Investigator: Uesugi Tak 岡山大学, グローバル人材育成院, 准教授 (20791114)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: Science studies / knowledge / citizenship / anthropology / food allergy

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this research was to investigate the interaction between the controversy over the status of food allergy as a legitimate biomedical disease and the social implications, including the precautions and legal accountabilities related to food allergies.
In this research I collected and read through literature in science studies broadly on the nature of scientific knowledge and its uses in the court of law, as well as natural sciences on the development of the scientific inquiry into food allergy. I also read through legal case laws from the United States involving food allergy. While I was not able to complete the research on this specific topic of food allergy, I could use the understanding I gained in this review to write a kiyo paper on science citizenship in relation to the nuclear disaster in Fukushima.

Free Research Field

Science studies, anthropology

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

It summarized the existing literature on science study that can be a foundation for future research.