The law has no place in scientific disputes

 
Simon Singh has decided to appeal the decision of a British court. That court ruled that his article on chiropractic in The Guardian contained "the plainest allegation of dishonesty and indeed it accuses them (the BCA) of thoroughly disreputable conduct." The British Chiropractic Association (BCA) brought the libel action because Singh's article pointed out the truth; namely, that there is no evidence to support the claim that most chiropractic procedures actually work.

You can read Sing's summary of the events, including his decision to appeal the judge's ruling at BCA v Singh The Story So Far 3 June 2009.

Many prominent scientists and journalist have rallied to Singh's side. Read about this development on Sense About Science and The Independent: Silenced, the writer who dared to say chiropractice is bogus.

Here's the statement. You can sign it on Sense About Science.

We the undersigned believe that it is inappropriate to use the English libel laws to silence critical discussion of medical practice and scientific evidence.

The British Chiropractic Association has sued Simon Singh for libel. The scientific community would have preferred that it had defended its position about chiropractic for various children's ailments through an open discussion of the peer reviewed medical literature or through debate in the mainstream media.

Singh holds that chiropractic treatments for asthma, ear infections and other infant conditions are not evidence-based. Where medical claims to cure or treat do not appear to be supported by evidence, we should be able to criticise assertions robustly and the public should have access to these views.

English libel law, though, can serve to punish this kind of scrutiny and can severely curtail the right to free speech on a matter of public interest. It is already widely recognised that the law is weighted heavily against writers: among other things, the costs are so high that few defendants can afford to make their case. The ease and success of bringing cases under the English law, including against overseas writers, has led to London being viewed as the "libel capital" of the world.

Freedom to criticise and question in strong terms and without malice is the cornerstone of scientific argument and debate, whether in peer-reviewed journals, on websites or in newspapers, which have a right of reply for complainants. However, the libel laws and cases such as BCA v Singh have a chilling effect, which deters scientists, journalists and science writers from engaging in important disputes about the evidential base supporting products and practices. The libel laws discourage argument and debate and merely encourage the use of the courts to silence critics.

The English law of libel has no place in scientific disputes about evidence; the BCA should discuss the evidence outside of a courtroom. Moreover, the BCA v Singh case shows a wider problem: we urgently need a full review of the way that English libel law affects discussions about scientific and medical evidence.

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[Photo Credit: Rex Features]