NBCUniversal faces a defamation lawsuit after a judge ruled that MSNBC hosts, including Rachel Maddow It is Nicole Wallacemade “verifiably false” statements that a Georgia doctor performed unnecessary hysterectomies at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) center.
The Applicant Dr. Mahendra Amin, an obstetrician gynecologist who provided medical care for women detained at the Irwin County Detention Center, was accused in 2020 of performing unnecessary hysterectomies by a nurse at the facility who filed a whistleblower report.
NBC reporters Jacob Soboroff and Julia Ainsley worked to verify the whistleblower’s claims and eventually published an article, despite initial skepticism from the network’s standards department. MSNBC quickly followed up with a series of on-air reports in which the doctor was often referred to as the “uterus collector,” but the whistleblower’s claims were never proven to be true.
“NBC investigated the allegations in the whistleblower letter; this investigation did not corroborate the accusations and even undermined some; NBC republished the allegations in the letter anyway,” the judge said. Lisa Godbey Madeira of the Southern District of Georgia wrote on June 26 in a 108-page summary.
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Wallace, who identified Amin by name, according to the court document, made “multiple statements” that were defamatory when she was the first MSNBC host to discuss the story on air, the plaintiff claims.
“We are following the latest news today. This is an alarming new report from a whistleblower who alleges, among other things, a large number of female immigrant detainees at an ICE detention center in Georgia have received questionable hysterectomies while they were in ICE custody,” Wallace told “Deadline: White House Viewers.”
Amin “performed only two hysterectomies on women detained at the facility,” according to court documents.
That same night,”Everything with Chris Hayes” featured an interview with the whistleblower. Hayes’ MSNBC program also spoke with a lawyer who claims that up to 15 immigrant women have undergone total or partial hysterectomies or other procedures for which there was no medical indication.
Maddow, MSNBC’s biggest star who reportedly earns $30 million a year despite hosting her show just once a week, amplified the whistleblower’s allegations by passionately covering them on “The Rachel Maddow Show.”
MSNBC regularly informed viewers of a statement from ICE that “the allegations will be fully investigated by an independent office, however, ICE strongly disputes the implication that detainees are used for experimental medical procedures.”
Maddow also included a statement from Amin in which he vigorously denied the whistleblower’s allegations.
According to the court document, Maddow “initially questioned the release of the allegations” and suggested there were too many “jumped to conclusions surrounding the complaint” but continued to address it anyway. “All In with Chris Hayes” had a sequel later in the week.
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Amin demanded that NBC remove the “false and defamatory” statements from the four MSNBC broadcasts, to no avail. The United States Senate investigated the whistleblower’s allegations but was unable to confirm the allegations.
The judge detailed that “indisputable evidence established” that “there were no mass hysterectomies or a large number of hysterectomies at the facility”, “Dr. Amin performed only two hysterectomies on female ICDC detainees”, and the doctor is not a “collector of uterus.”
“The Court must analyze each of the statements in the context of the entire broadcast or social media post to evaluate the construction that the average viewer assigns to them,” the judge wrote.
“Seen in full, the September 15, 2020 episodes of ‘Deadline: White House,’ ‘All In With Chris Hayes’ and ‘The Rachel Maddow Show’ accuse Plaintiff of performing mass hysterectomies on detained women. Never mind that NBC did not make these accusations directly, but merely republished the allegations in the whistleblower’s letter,” the judge continued. “If the accusations against a plaintiff are ‘based entirely on hearsay,’”[t]The fact that the accusations made were based on hearsay does not in any way absolve the defendant of liability. Charges based on hearsay are equivalent in law to direct charges.'”
Wood ordered a jury trial to determine whether MSNBC engaged in “actual malice.”
MSNBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Original article source: Judge says Maddow and other MSNBC hosts made ‘demonstrably false’ statements about medical defamation lawsuit
