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Libel And Slander - Charging Physician With Lack Of Skill In Particular Case, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a practicing physician, sued to recover damages for an alleged libel committed when defendant falsely published in its newspaper an article stating that plaintiff examined a prisoner in the city jail, diagnosed his condition as "alcoholic paralysis," and ordered his removal to a city hospital, and that a post mortem disclosed that the prisoner's neck was fractured. Held, that to charge a physician with having made a wrong diagnosis in a particular case is not actionable per se, and since there is no allegation of special damage, there can be no recovery. Blende v. Hearst Publications, Inc., …