Scott Atlas lawyer threatens defamation suit over critical Stanford open letter

[brooklynite]

Source: Politico

Attorneys for Scott Atlas threatened to sue signatories of an open letter denouncing the doctor’s qualifications for his role on the White House’s coronavirus response team for defamation if they do not retract their statements.

Last week dozens of doctors and researchers affiliated with Stanford University signed onto a letter excoriating Atlas, who worked as a senior fellow at its Hoover Institution, saying they had a “moral and ethical responsibility” to denounce his claims about Covid-19 and his optimistic outlook on returning to normal life.

“Many of his opinions and statements run counter to established science and, by doing so, undermine public-health authorities and the credible science that guides effective public health policy,” the letter states.

Atlas does not appear to have a background in public health, epidemiology or infectious diseases. He has specialized in radiology and neuroradiology, including serving as chief of neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center.


Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/17/scott-atlas-stanford-defamation-suit-416992

[Miguelito Loveless]

1. Please proceed.

[lark]

8. Yes, proceed to assume all the costs of litigation.

Because he will 100% lose if he did this, but doubt he's that stupid. However, he does work with drumpf so criminal, murderer and traitor could be accurate so he might want to not actually do this.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Good luck with that.

Atlas is (a) a public figure, and (b) the writers are expressing their opinions. If he does start a lawsuit it won't last long, and maybe he doesn't want it to last long enough for the discovery process to turn over some rocks he might not want turned over.

And his lawyer is Trump's flunky mouthpiece Kasowitz, so there's that.

[turbinetree]

7. Exactly....................

[RainCaster]

3. Great tag line- "More facts, more science. Less Kasowitz."

An amateur epidemiologist being represented by an amateur liability attorney. What could go wrong?

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Right wing sites quote him saying on Fox he favours herd immunity via widespread infection

Dr. Scott Atlas, a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and the former chief of neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center, also made the case during a recent Fox News appearance: “We like the fact that there’s a lot of cases in low-risk populations because that’s exactly how we are going to get herd immunity, population immunity. When low-risk people with no significant problem handling this virus, which is basically 99% of people, get this and they become immune ... they block the pathways of connectivity to more contagious, older, sicker people.”

https://townhall.com/columnists/scottmorefield/2020/07/03/the-most-powerful-argument-against-forced-universal-masking-that-you-wont-read-in-the-establishment-media-n2571794

“And with that social mingling, we are going to see more cases,” he continued. “With more testing, we are going to detect more cases but the fact is the overwhelming majority of these cases are younger, healthier people. These people do not have a significant problem. They do not have the serious complications. They do not die. And so it’s fantastic news that we have a lot of cases but we don’t see deaths going up.”

Atlas argued that the country is both “doing a better job protecting the vulnerable” and also “in good shape here.”
...
“There’s no reason for a lockdown when we have something happening we actually have no problem with,” he said. “These do not translate into people going into respirators. The hospitalization phase is half the length that they were before. We are doing very well with this, but the point about the schools is really critical because this is the most irrational public policy probably in modern history.”

The Stanford researcher argued that since children pose little risk of dying, experiencing complications, or even transmitting the disease, “there is tremendous harm in not having in-person schools.”

https://dailycaller.com/2020/06/29/stanford-scott-atlas-coronavirus-schools-science/

He hasn't got a leg to stand on. The science shows that children are at risk, and the ethical problems in saying he likes seeing people infected are obvious. Their criticism was completely justified.

[mitch96]

10. "favors herd immunity via wide spread infections"

Well it's easy to find out.. .Look at Sweden.. They tried it out...
https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200813/swedens-no-lockdown-policy-didnt-achieve-herd-immunity
I think if we do what Sweden did, we will get what Sweden got.. Lots of sick people.. YMMV
m

[bringthePaine]

5. can't wait to see the counter-suits

[agingdem]

6. here the problem for Atlas going forward...

Stanford University lawyers are going to go thru every inch of Atlas's life...they are going to depose and expose...oh, and I'm pretty sure there are what I like to call lawyer's lawyers "chomping at the bit" ready to take on Trump and his incompetent lackys and if Barr gets in the way even better

[BlueIdaho]

9. Discovery process should be fun...

Scott could end up owing Stanford his ass before this is all over.

[paleotn]

11. OK. Knock yourselves out.

After all, what the fucking hell does a radiologist know about virology and epidemiology? Other than a few undergrad and med school courses, not a goddamn thing.

[tableturner]

12. He won't sue them. They'd have entire med school faculty as expert witnesses.