Joseph E. Hancock v. Easwaran P. Variyam

In this defamation suit involving two physicians, we clarify a longstanding distinction between defamation and defamation per se in the context of statements that relate to one’s profession. While a defamatory statement is one that tends to injure a person’s reputation, such a statement is defamatory per se if it injures a person in her office, profession, or occupation. 1 The common law deems such statements so hurtful that the jury may presume general damages (such as for mental anguish and loss of reputation). Here, in a letter sent to colleagues and others, a physician accused a fellow…