Synonyms: wrongful conviction, questionable cause
Situations where the cause and effect fallacy may occur:
(1) event A precedes event B
(2) events A and B occur concurrently
The fallacy occurs if A is assumed to be the cause of B without adequate evidence.
Examples:
(1) autism secondary to vaccine administration
(2) inflammatory bowel disease following Accutane exposure
Possible alternative explanations that may not have been considered:
(1) both A and B are caused by the same underlying process
(2) A and B are occurring independently
Adequate evidence may include:
(1) plausible mechanism of causation
(2) experimental studies
(3) case control studies
Failure to obtain evidence may be due to:
(1) recall or other form of bias.
(2) ignorance
(3) inability to obtain evidence
(4) afraid of implications associated with other explanations
(5) failure to consider alternative explanations
(6) laziness
(7) greed or economic incentive
(8) anger and frustration
