Sunday 20 December 2009

Sunday Times claims new libel gagging scandal


The Sunday Times claims today that General Electric, one of the world’s biggest corporations, is using the London libel courts to gag a senior radiologist after he raised the alarm over the potentially fatal risks of one of its drugs.
The multinational is suing Henrik Thomsen, a Danish academic, after he described his experiences of one of the company’s drugs as a medical “nightmare”. He said some kidney patients at his hospital contracted a potentially deadly condition after being administered the drug Omniscan.
The Sunday Times says GE Healthcare, a British subsidiary of General Electric, has run up more than £380,000 in legal costs pursuing Thomsen.
“I believe the lawsuit is an attempt to silence me,” Thomsen tells the Sunday Times. “It’s dangerous for the patient if we can’t frankly exchange views.”
The story will add to pressure on libel laws in the UK to be reformed.

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