DALLAS (CN) – A journalist’s false allegation of personal bankruptcy did not defame a dentist whose clinics were accused of fraud, a Texas appeals court ruled.
Dr. Richard Malouf, the founder and former majority owner of All Smiles Dental Care, is the dentist in question.
A few months after Malouf’s chain of dental clinics agreed in March 2012 to settle Medicare fraud claims for $1.2 million, WFAA-TV broadcast a two-minute piece by investigative reporter Brett Shipp on recent civil fraud allegations filed against Malouf.
The June 26 report said Malouf “has yet to comment on the allegations but filed for bankruptcy and is in the process of divesting his once impressive empire.”
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