A medical device company has dropped its libel case against FairWarning.org, a Calfornia-based website that covers safety, health and corporate conduct.
Myron Levin of FairWarning writes, “Advanced Aesthetic Concepts, LP, distributor of the LipoTron 3000 weight-loss device, filed the one-paragraph dismissal on Friday–nine days after its original filing in Tarrant County District Court in Fort Worth, Texas.
“Kevin Herd, a lawyer for Advanced, declined to explain. ‘A suit was filed, and a suit was dismissed, and that’s the way we’re leaving’ it, he said.
“As reported by FairWarning, the lawsuit charged that a July 11 FairWarning article about unauthorized LipoTron sales was inaccurate and had caused economic harm to Advanced and its top executive, Mark Durante.
“The company also claimed that after publication of the story, Public Citizen defamed Advanced in letters urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and state medical boards to take enforcement action.
“Advanced has also dismissed its claims against a third party–Medical Spa MD, a blog that has followed the controversy.
“But the case continues against whistleblowers Paige Peterson and Belinda Worley, accused of leading ‘a smear campaign’ to cause financial harm to Advanced.”
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