DEFAMATION

Trover v. Kluger, No. 4:05CV-014-H (W.D. Ky. Feb. 14, 2007)

The federal District Court for the Western District of Kentucky dismissed the majority of a physician's defamation claims against a newspaper, where the newspaper was reporting on events related to ongoing disciplinary proceedings regarding the physician at a local hospital.

The physician complained that a series of articles covering the proceedings, which led to the eventual revocation of his privileges, made several defamatory statements. Specifically, he argued that the newspaper, on several occasions, falsely accused him of grossly negligent medical practice. The newspaper responded that each of its articles was either substantially true or protected by an appropriate First Amendment privilege. The district court largely agreed with the newspaper.

The court found that the majority of the published articles contained no specific false statements of fact, and those that did were privileged since they merely recited allegations from a publicly failed malpractice suit against the physician. The court did, however, permit the physician's defamation claim to go forward as to a particular article that summarized a complaint letter – concerning the physician – written by another doctor on staff at the local hospital. The court held that the newspaper may have defamed the physician in publishing the letter, which contained allegations of negligent practice, if the physician could show that the newspaper had been negligent in checking the truth or falsehood of the allegations.