Here are two physician defamation cases from April to know:
1. Hudson, Fla.-based Bonati Spine Institute and Bonati's owner, surgeon Alfred Bonati, MD, have filed a $500 million complaint against the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration for civil rights abuses, state officials' conspiracy, slander and libel after the state temporarily shut down the ASC alleging unsafe surgical practices.
2. Joseph Stalfire III, MD, a surgeon at Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, is suing a fellow physician for defamation and intentional emotional distress for allegedly submitting false medical board complaints in an attempt to get him fired. Dr. Stalfire also named Kaiser affiliate Northwest Permanente as a defendant in the case.