Statistical studies rely upon large numbers, and Zelen had only twelve cases of leukemia to work with in Woburn. But Zelen thought he saw a way to get larger numbers. He reasoned that if the well water had, in fact, caused leukemia, it might also have caused a variety of other childhood health problems. If an unusual pattern of birth defects and reproductive disorders emerged among families that had gotten their water from wells G and H, that would tend to support the theory that the cluster of leukemia cases was not simply a coincidence, a statistical fluke.

Jonathan Harr, A Civil Action, loc. 634