Last December, two days before Christmas, I was served with a $1 million lawsuit that alleged I had libeled a woman who was mentioned in my November 2009 cover story for Wired magazine: “An Epidemic of Fear: One Man’s Battle Against the Anti-Vaccine Movement”.
Today, the lawsuit was dismissed. Read the attached ruling here: Memorandum Opinion
I’m relieved for you and Dr. Offit and the publisher.
Glad justice was served. Any thoughts to an “anti-SLAPP” lawsuit to recover attorney fees, etc, from Babs?
Good for you! Thank you for being so brave through all of this. They probably didn’t teach a course in journalism school about how to fend off litigious nutcases and yet you did very well!
There was never any chance that they would prevail, or even that there could be any outcome other than this dismissal. But of course they could harass you very effectively and cost you money.
Ignorance and meanness are by no means mutually exclusive.
This is actually a little disappointing. You might have been able to milk weeks out of trotting out countless occasions where Fisher made factually incorrect statements and made it all a matter of public record. But I guess at least it will show the antivaxxers that they can’t bully and intimidate their critics with lawsuits.
I just read the opinion and her allegations are so ridiculously thin. Grasping at straws doesn’t adequately describe it.
Dismissed with prejudice, I hope.
Congratulations.
People like Ms. Fisher who depend on the First Amendment should show it more respect.
I’ve been following this since it started. My comments on the latest chapter are at http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles/history/2010/03march.htm#13fisher including my email to Fisher and her lawyer.
Congratulations Amy! So sorry you had to go through this ordeal.
Wow! You can call someone a liar and not have to defend your allegations. No wonder the standard of debate in the US is so poor.
This is very disappointing. Barbara Loe Fisher has always been truthful. I admire her so much.
Susan Pearce, if Barbara Loe Fisher has been so truthful, why has she not updated the information about the DTaP vaccine? She makes some serious allegations about it, including incidents in some states but does not include the references.
Also the references are all from almost twenty years ago, when there was only the DTP vaccine. That would be lies of omission.
Congratulations on your legal victory and thanks for the well-researched and timely pieces on the anti-vaccination hysteria.
I’m a high school teacher in San Mateo County and have had several students miss weeks of school due to whooping cough. One student got so far behind that he ended up failing, after missing 6 weeks of class.
I have referred several times to your articles in my blog Modern School http://modeducation.blogspot.com/, which covers education and youth topics.