Hospital Sues Bloggers

This is a really interesting one: a hospital in Paris, Texas, has sued a blog that it claims has defamed the hospital and also released confidential patient information.

The blogger or bloggers are apparently publishing their blog anonymously, according to a report in The Paris News, and a judge has ordered an Internet service provider to disclose the names and addresses of the bloggers.

Apparently, the bloggers accused the hospital of criminal wrongdoing, including Medicare fraud. The newspaper story said that hospital employees provided information to the bloggers, which is the basis of the claim about releasing confidential patient information.

So this is where it gets interesting. Is the blog uncovering wrongdoing by the hospital? And is the hospital retaliating by bringing the suit? Will the blog be protected by the First Amendment, as other publications are?

It doesn't seem to me that the claim of releasing confidential patient information should apply to the blog. If anyone was in the wrong there, it was the hospital employees, but they may be protected by whistle-blower statutes.

Defamation cases can be sticky though. Truth, of course, is a defense. If the story or stories on the blog were true, the hospital can't win a case for defamation, if I remember my journalism law courses from 20-plus years ago correctly. However, the hospital could easily bankrupt the blogger and put him or her out of business.

And of course opinion is protected by the First Amendment ... I have to admit though, many of the blogs I read dangle pretty far out on the end of the limb in expressing their opinions, and I probably do as well.

That's the joy of blogging.

Personally, lawsuit aside, I hope the blog stirs up an investigation into the business practices of the hospital, Paris Regional Medical Center.

Check out the blog: The-Paris-site

From a quick visit, it appears that various people have used the blog to complain about the hospital--about working conditions, medical care, and so on. If that's the case, I think there are precedents that say the publisher of the blog is not responsible for the opinions expressed by its readers and commenters.

I need to look this up. Anyone remember the case I'm thinking of? Seems to me it was AOL.

@ Jeanne Sather 2007.