Britain’s Associated Newspapers Ltd has been forced to eat humble pie in a landmark case that will see it cough up for “substantial damages and costs” and apologise for defaming two doctors.
In a David and Goliath battle, the doctors won their libel case against the tabloid Daily Mail and journalist Barney Calman in what the judge described as “the most significant piece of defamation litigation” he had seen in a very long time.
On her blog, Maryanne Demasi, PhD, reports that the High Court found Calman and his publishers, Associated Newspapers Ltd, had falsely accused Malcolm Kendrick MD and Zoë Harcombe PhD of deliberately making false statements about statin drugs and putting many people at risk of heart attacks and strokes, with far graver consequences than the MMR scandal.
Harcombe is a researcher, writer and public speaker on diet, health and nutritional science, while Kendrick is a GP, writer, and lecturer, with an interest in cardiovascular disease.
The judge found that Calman’s article inappropriately branded the two doctors as dishonest brokers, who were focused on the business of selling books that downplay the role of cholesterol in heart disease.
Calman and his publishers had refused to apologise, remove or alter the offending articles, published in March 2019, so Kendrick and Harcombe sued for libel arguing the articles “caused serious harm” to their reputations.
Calman and his publishers claimed the articles were “honest opinion” published in the public interest, and therefore protected under the Defamation Act 2013. But Justice Matthew Nicklin denied them a public interest defence in June 2024.
Thereafter, the publishers decided not to appeal the decision.
On Sunday, the Mail Online issued an apology to Kendrick and Harcombe, conceding that the allegations it printed were “untrue and ought not to have been published”.
It said it was “happy to set the record straight, and apologise to Dr Harcombe and Dr Kendrick for the distress caused”.
“We will not repeat the allegations and have agreed to pay substantial damages and costs.”
The offending articles have been removed from the website, and the case serves as a stark warning to journalists who use their platforms to try to discredit those who challenge orthodoxy, said Demasi.
MailOnline article – Dr Zoë Harcombe PhD and Dr Malcolm Kendrick – Apology (Open access)
Maryanne Demasi blog – BREAKING: Doctors win libel case against British tabloid (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Benefits of statins may have been overstated – Irish meta-analysis
Why statins are good for over-70s – Oxford study
Fewer people may need statins to prevent heart disease – US study