Complete this exercise offline and then either e-mail or hand the exercise in to your instructor.
Assume that your newspaper is sued for $50,000 in general damages and $50,000 in punitive damages by John Jones, M.D., who claimed that the newspaper had published an article stating that he is the only physician at General Hospital who has been successfully sued for malpractice during the past two years. In fact, however, Dr. Jones is the only physician at General Hospital who has not been sued successfully for malpractice during the past two years. Dr. Jones, in the complaint he filed, said that he has a sound reputation as a medical doctor, as evidenced by having been honored by the American Medical Association the previous year for outstanding contributions to the local medical association. He claimed that the wholly false statement is libelous and caused him to suffer "deep pain, anguish and humiliation." The evidence indicates that the newspaper, in preparing the story, inadvertently misinterpreted the correct facts, which were spelled out clearly in court records. Does the doctor have a good case? Discuss in terms of the various common law or statutory defenses. Then discuss in terms of the defenses available as a result of Sullivan and other relevant decisions.
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2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education