Court Says Simon Singh Can Claim 'Fair Comment' In Calling BCA Claims Bogus

from the that's-not-bogus dept

We've written a few times about the UK libel lawsuit brought by the British Chriropractor's Association (BCA) against writer/scientist Simon Singh, because he called some of the BCA's claims (concerning what chiropractic work can do) "bogus." The courts had originally determined that the word "bogus" meant being deliberately dishonest and found him guilty of libel in a determination of how that word usage would be viewed at trial. In response, a large group of people have been ripping apart claims by the BCA with detailed analyses (stuff many in the press won't touch for fear of being sued as well). The case had become so involved that Singh stopped writing his column to focus on the lawsuit.

Thankfully, there's some good news, as the court has now decided that the original ruling was a mistake and Singh can use a defense of "fair comment" as the basis for his column. As such the trial will continue, but Singh is in a better position. Amazingly, despite all of this the BCA still wants to fight. At some point you wonder why they don't just back down. The more they fight, the more people expose them for making, yes, bogus claims. Singh and others aren't claiming that chiropractors don't do any good -- they're just questioning some of the more extreme, and scientifically unsupported, claims made by the BCA. If the BCA were smart, they'd focus on improving their messaging, not fighting back.

Filed Under: libel, simon singh, united kingdom
Companies: bca