Bad Astronomy

Chiropractors bend over backwards to screw up

In my last post, I said that the British Chiropractors Association – which is suing Simon Singh for libel – put out a press release saying that Simon was acting maliciously, and then hastily put out a modified release with that part taken out. This is a huge development in the case, since this is arguably a defamatory statement on their part about Simon. If he countersues, or threatens to, they may be forced to drop the entire suit.

Because it’s too delicious not to point out specifically – and because I think it’s vital that skeptics raise awareness on this issue – here are the two versions of their press release: the original, and the modified one.

The difference? This paragraph (emphasis mine):

Original: “The BCA supports and would never seek to stifle legitimate open scientific debate. However, this action is actually a simple libel claim based on the fact that the BCA was maliciously attacked by Dr. Singh in the Guardian newspaper.”

Modified: “The BCA supports and would never seek to stifle legitimate open scientific debate. However, this action is a simple claim based on the fact that the BCA was libelled by Dr. Singh in the Guardian newspaper.”

Yeah. Oops.

I’ll be keeping a close eye on this indeed. Simon Singh has my full support in his effort to overturn his own suit and these awful UK libel laws.