Saying the case should go to trial, an appeals court Wednesday overturned a ruling that sided with CNN in a defamation lawsuit stemming from reports about deaths of children at a Palm Beach County hospital.
A three-judge panel of the state's 4th District Court of Appeal rejected a circuit judge's decision that granted summary judgment to CNN in the lawsuit filed by surgeon Dr. Michael D. Black. Summary judgment rulings are issued without going to full trials.
"We express no opinion on the merits of Dr. Black's claim," said Wednesday's main opinion, written by Chief Judge Jeffrey Kuntz and joined by Judge Spencer Levine. "But Dr. Black presented evidence alleging CNN and its employees published a story implying Dr. Black's allegedly deficient performance caused babies to die. The evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for Dr. Black."
Judge Alan Forst wrote a concurring opinion. The lawsuit centers on 2015 reports by CNN that said the St. Mary's Medical Center pediatric open-heart surgery program had a death rate from 2011 to 2013 that was more than three times the national average. The rate was calculated by looking at the number of deaths and surgeries performed.
But St. Mary's and Black disputed the reports because they said CNN's calculation of the death rate was not "risk-adjusted," the opinion said.
Black, who led the hospital's program, filed the defamation lawsuit against CNN and individual defendants, including prominent network host Anderson Cooper.
After a circuit judge granted summary judgment to CNN and the other defendants, Black took the case to the West Palm Beach-based appeals court.
"A jury may ultimately find the defendants did not defame Dr. Black," the main opinion said. "But at this point in the proceedings, we conclude Dr. Black has presented sufficient evidence to survive the defendants' summary judgment motion."
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