The court rules against the NH Board of Medicine:
Judge Edward Fitzgerald made clear in a ruling released Thursday that he did not condone remarks attributed to Dr. Terry Bennett and found them unnecessary, but ruled Bennett had a right to speak bluntly.“It is nonetheless important … to ensure that physicians and patients are free to discuss matters relating to health without fear of government reprisal, even if such discussions may sometimes be harsh, rude or offensive to the listener,” he concluded in the ruling Wednesday.
The complaints against Bennett included charges that he told a white patient that she was so obese she might only be attractive to black men . . .
. . . Bennett said he planned to sue everyone involved for “malicious prosecution.”
“I am not inclined to be forgiving about it,” he said. “It’s been devastating and infuriating.”
(via a reader tip)
Update -
From the Manchester Union Leader:
It was a good ruling. As Concord attorney Chuck Douglas, whose firm represented Bennett, said last week, Bennett is free to say what he wants and his patients are free to seek another doctor if they don’t like it. Appealing to the Board of Medicine to silence him is the wrong remedy.
