Tough Libel Laws

I read a short blog post yesterday on the New York Times website, and it fits in nicely with tonight's discussion about defamation. Apparently the libel laws in Britain and Wales are incredibly difficult to defend (but easy to bring/charge). This encourages science journalists NOT to write or publish articles that could potentially hurt health organizations. This is incredibly dangerous, as the article points out, because scurrilous health claims can have enormous impact on the public.

Check it out here:

http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/cracking-the-spine-of-libel/?scp=1&sq=libel%20singh&st=cse