Volokh Conspiracy: Society for Science-Based Medicine is media defendant under Florida statute

Posted on by

Tobinick v. Novella (S.D. Fla. Mar. 16, 2015) is a complicated case, with lots of legal twists. But one of them was this: Is the Society for Science-Based Medicine, a nonprofit opinionated education and advocacy group, a media defendant for purposes of a Florida statute that gives media defendants special procedural protections?

Yes, said the district court (some paragraph breaks added):

The question is whether or not the Society is a media defendant such that Plaintiffs were required to provide it with a pre-suit notice letter. Although the express language of section 770.01 does not limit the type of defendant entitled to presuit notice, [e]very Florida court that has considered the question has concluded that the presuit notice requirement applies only to media defendants, not to private individuals.' In defining the term media defendant, courts have considered whether the defendant engages in the traditional function of the news media, which is to initiate uninhibited, robust, and wide-open debate on public issues.'

Thus, media defendants are not just those who impartially disseminate information, or issue unsolicited, disinterested and neutral commentary as to matters of public interest. The term also applies to those who editorialize as to matters of public interest without being commissioned to do so by [their] clients.

The Court finds that the Society does, in fact, qualify as a media defendant entitled to the protections of Floridas pre-suit notice statute. The stated mission of the Society, which is a not-for-profit corporation, is to educate consumers, professionals, business people, legislators, law enforcement personnel, organizations and agencies about the concept of science-based medicine and to provide a discussion forum for issues in the area of medical science. It also intends to operate as the central source of information and discussion for all aspects of the concept of science-based medicine. Its mission encompasses [o]pposition to health care practices whose diagnoses, diagnostic methods, and therapies have no plausible basis in the scientific model of medicine or an insufficient basis in evidence to warrant their use..

Clearly, the issues which the Society intends to address are ones of public importance. Although the Society has a particular agenda, that does not rob it of the protections afforded it by the pre-suit notice statute. The Societys mission falls squarely within that of the traditional media; it aims to initiate uninhibited, robust, and wide-open debate on public issues.'

The fact that the Society may be opposed to certain health care practices it believes have no plausible basis in the scientific model of medicine or an insufficient basis in evidence to warrant their use does not render it a non-media defendant. A defendant may qualify as a member of the media for purposes of Floridas pre-suit notice provision if it editorialize[s] as to matters of public interest without being commissioned to do so by its clients. Here, there is no evidence that any of the allegedly false and/or defamatory statements were commissioned. The Court concludes that the Society is a media defendant, and it is consequently entitled to a remedy for Plaintiffs violation of the pre-suit notice statute.

The particular statutory right involved here isnt that important here; the statute just provides for notice before a lawsuit is filed:

Before any civil action is brought for publication or broadcast, in a newspaper, periodical, or other medium, of a libel or slander, the plaintiff shall, at least 5 days before instituting such action, serve notice in writing on the defendant, specifying the article or broadcast and the statements therein which he or she alleges to be false and defamatory.

Still, the logic of the decision would apply to interpretation of other statutes as well. For a different approach, see the Service Employees International Union v. Professional Janitorial Service, Inc. case, in which a Texas Court of Appeals held I think incorrectly that only organizations that have reporting the news as their primary business are entitled to statutory protection as media.

Continued here:

Volokh Conspiracy: Society for Science-Based Medicine is media defendant under Florida statute

Stonehearst Asylum Official Movie Trailer (2015) Michael Caine HD – Video

Posted on by


Stonehearst Asylum Official Movie Trailer (2015) Michael Caine HD
A recent medical school grad who takes a position at a mental institution soon finds himself taken with one of his colleagues -- though he has no initial idea of a recent, horrifying staffing...

By: Show Film First

Original post:

Stonehearst Asylum Official Movie Trailer (2015) Michael Caine HD - Video

Mindy Kaling's brother: I faked being black to get into medical school

Posted on by

(CNN) -- Actress Mindy Kaling's brother says that he posed as a black man years ago to get into medical school and that the experience opened his eyes to what he calls the hypocrisy of affirmative action.

The revelation comes as Vijay Chokal-Ingam, who is of Indian descent, is pitching a book about his experiences as a "hard-partying college frat boy who discovered the seriousness and complexity of America's racial problems while posing as a black man."

On his website, AlmostBlack.com, Chokal-Ingam says he hatched the plan in 1998 after realizing in college that his grades weren't going to be good enough to get into med school as an Indian-American.

"So, I shaved my head, trimmed my long Indian eyelashes, and applied to medical school as a black man," he wrote on the website. "My change in appearance was so startling that my own fraternity brothers didn't recognize me at first."

He says he joined an organization for black students and applied to schools using his middle name, JoJo.

The plan had some drawbacks, said Chokal-Ingam, who describes himself now as a "professional resume writer, interview coach, and graduate school application consultant."

"Cops harassed me. Store clerks accused me of shoplifting. Women were either scared of me or couldn't keep their hands off me," he wrote. "What started as a devious ploy to gain admission to medical school turned into a twisted social experiment."

He says it worked. Despite a relatively mediocre 3.1 college grade-point average and a good-but-not-great score of 31 on the Medical College Admission Test, Chokal-Ingam claims he was wooed by several top medical schools.

He even posts documents on his website to bolster his claims, including an enthusiastic letter from a dean at the Emory University School of Medicine congratulating him on his "excellent scores" on the MCAT.

But there's little evidence to suggest his posturing as a "black" applicant helped him get into these schools. First, there is no point of comparison: Chokal-Ingam never applied to medical schools as an Indian-American.

Read more:

Mindy Kaling's brother: I faked being black to get into medical school

Mindy Kaling's brother faked race to get into medical school, prove affirmative action is racism

Posted on by

Comedian Mindy Kaling'solder brother,Vijay Chokal-Ingam, has revealed he was accepted into medical school by faking his race and taking advantage of affirmative action policies.

"I shaved my head, trimmed my long Indian eyelashes, and applied to medical school as a black man," he writes on his blog, almostblack.com. "Vijay the Indian-American frat boy become Jojo the African American Affirmative Action applicant to medical school."

Covering up his roots, Chokal-Ingam self-identified as black on his college applications and, despite having a less than impressive 3.1 GPA, was soon invited to interview at Harvard, Columbia and many more prestigious schools. He ended up enrolling inSt. Louis University Medical School, but dropped out after two years and"eventually was accepted at, and graduated from, UCLA Andersons MBA program as an Asian Indian-American", reports the NY Post.

I disclosed that I didnt receive financial aid from the University of Chicago, and that I had a nice car, he said. I was the campus rich kid... and yet they considered me an affirmative-action applicant.

Why did he do it and why is he so passionate about sharing his story? To prove that affirmative action programs don't work and that, if anything, they're actually propagating racism.

"#affirmativeactionis DISCRIMINATION; it's a lie to call it else. I got into medical school with a 3.1 GPA as black,"Chokal-Ingam tweeted before following thatup with a number of more messages on the matter, including:

Continued here:

Mindy Kaling's brother faked race to get into medical school, prove affirmative action is racism