Third Circuit Ruling Highlights Burden With Statistical Sampling

Legal proceedings questioning the medical judgment of a healthcare provider generally entail the production and review of voluminous amounts of data, such as medical and billing records. Government agencies and/or prosecutors often extrapolate the total incidence of alleged misconduct based on a smaller data set.

For example, prosecutors often use statistical sampling and extrapolation in matters involving unlawful prescriptions. In these cases, the Third Circuit permits prosecutors to extrapolate for such purposes, but "the government must show, and the court must find, that there is an adequate basis in fact for the extrapolation and that the quantity was determined in a manner consistent with accepted standards of reliability." United States v. McCutchen, 992 F.2d 22, 25-26 (3d Cir. 1993).