Blanchard v. Steward Carney Hospital, Inc.

**201 This is the second time the defendants have appealed from the denial of their special motion to dismiss the plaintiffs' defamation claim, pursuant to the "anti-SLAPP" statute, G. L. c. 231, § 59H. 3 See Blanchard v. Steward Carney Hospital, Inc ., 477 Mass. 141 , 75 N.E.3d 21 (2017) ( Blanchard I ). In Blanchard I , we augmented the anti-SLAPP framework devised in Duracraft Corp . v. Holmes Prods. Corp ., 427 Mass. 156 , 160 n.7, 161, 691 N.E.2d 935 (1998) ( Duracraft ), vacated the denial of the hospital defendants' motion, and remanded the case for further proceedings. Blanchard I ,…