Simon Singh libel case update

There's finally some good news in the Simon Singh libel case.  Singh has won his right to appeal the initial ruling in the case.  The wonderfully-named judge who made today's ruling, Lord Justice Laws, said that the initial ruling risked swinging the balance of rights too far in favour of the right to reputation and against the right to free expression [quoting from this article: http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2009/10/simon-singh-wins-leave-to-appeal-in-bca-libel-case/ ]

A quick recap in case you don't know:

Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst recently published a book "Trick or Treatment: Alternative medicine on trial" [the irony of the title isn't lost on Singh] which talks about various alternative treatments including homeopathy, acupuncture, chiropractic, herbal remedies. The book is very balanaced and fair and constitutes a proper discussion, focussed on evidence and truth, of the science behind these treatments. Singh also wrote a comment/opinion piece in the Guardian newspaper about chiropractic which included the (now fateful) phrase 

"The British Chiropractic Association claims that their members can help
treat children with colic, sleeping and feeding problems, frequent ear
infections, asthma and prolonged crying, even though there is not a jot
of evidence. This organisation is the respectable face of the
chiropractic profession and yet it happily promotes bogus treatments."

So the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) sued him personally. (Not the newspaper.) Singh now faces a long drawn-out legal procedure and mounting legal bills.

It all raises an interesting question about the manipulation of the law and legal process to interfere with scientific investigation and discussion.

We'll be talking about the book and also the litigation at the next bookclub meeting on the 28th of November (tickets available under the "Events" tab).  The author will not be present. We invited Singh to come, but he can't travel because he must devote all his energy to defending the libel case.