SEATTLE — Dr. Johnny Delashaw, the neurosurgeon whose libel lawsuit against The Seattle Times over its investigative series into his oversight and practice as head of the Swedish Neuroscience Institute was dismissed by a federal judge last year, has dropped his appeal of that ruling.
The legal victory means the newspaper is free of Delashaw’s $25 million claim which challenged the accuracy of its “Quality of Care” series, published in 2017. The series detailed aggressive business practices and a toxic work environment at the clinic that jeopardized patient care.
Delashaw’s decision to drop the appeal, filed with the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, occurred days after both sides had completed extensive briefing on the appeal, and came a day after Delashaw settled his final claim against Dr. Charles Cobbs, another Swedish physician whom Delashaw also claimed had defamed him.
Delashaw accused Cobbs of making false statements and engaging in a conspiracy, rooted in false allegations, to undermine Delashaw because Cobbs resented loss of income and authority when Delashaw was recruited and eventually became director of the neuroscience center in 2015.
That case was scheduled to go to trial Nov. 29 before U.S. District Judge James Robart, who had dismissed the claims against the newspaper a year ago.
The Seattle Times, in turn, on Friday dismissed a “purely defensive” cross-appeal of a ruling by Robart involving the admissibility of testimony by one of Delashaw’s proposed expert witnesses, said Jessica Goldman with Summit Law Group, who represented the newspaper.
Goldman said she doubted Delashaw’s settlement with Cobbs and the dismissal of the appeal were coincidental.
“The Seattle Times conducted a balanced and thorough investigation of serious threats posed to patients and staff at Swedish Hospital,” Goldman said in a statement.
“Dr. Delashaw’s lawsuit challenging the Times’ reporting was baseless and the District Court rejected all of his claims against the newspaper. My colleagues at Summit Law Group and I are pleased that Dr. Delashaw has now abandoned his appeal.”
Seattle Times Executive Editor Michele Matassa Flores, in an email to the staff announcing the dismissal, said: “Our victory in this case underscores the value of meticulous, thorough, accurate reporting; careful and fair writing; and bulletproof documentation of our work.
“Today is a good day for local journalism,” she said.
An email seeking comment from Delashaw’s attorney’s did not receive a response Friday evening.
Last year, Robart granted a motion filed by attorneys for The Times that argued that the newspaper had accurately reported on Delashaw’s role at the neuroscience clinic and the existence of financial incentives contained in Swedish physician contracts that were core issues of the series.
Delashaw had particularly protested that The Times’ articles implied that his actions at the clinic, both inside and outside the operating theater, put patients at risk. The Times’ pleadings acknowledged the “gist” of the articles was that the Swedish Neurological Institute “faced substantial challenges under the disruptive and abusive leadership of Dr. Delashaw which caused many surgeons, nurses and administrators to quit, incentivized astronomically high production among surgeons and … put patients at risk.”
Robart dismissed all of those claims.
Robart also dismissed allegations that the articles defamed and injured Delashaw by implying he was a bully of an administrator who performed unnecessary surgeries and placed profits before patient safety and care. Delashaw also had accused the reporters Mike Baker and Justin Mayo of cherry-picking data that supported its stories and ignoring information that didn’t.
Baker has since joined The New York Times. Mayo is now a senior data journalist at Stanford University.
“Mike and Justin’s reporting on the Quality of Care series was meticulous, accurate and fair,” Matassa Flores said in a statement.
“It prompted reforms within Swedish that benefited patients, their families and caregivers, and it even prompted other hospitals to examine their own practices,” she said. “Physicians, health care administrators and a federal judge already recognized the virtues of our reporting. We’re glad Dr. Delashaw has now realized his complaint against us was futile and meritless.”
