Appeals court rules in favor of BDN in libel suit from former VA podiatrist

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on Wednesday upheld a judge’s previous ruling in favor of the Bangor Daily News and other news organizations in a libel case.

Podiatrist Thomas Franchini sued the media organizations alleging libel and defamation after they reported in 2017 that he allegedly made mistakes in 88 cases while working at the Togus Veterans Affairs Medical Center near Augusta.

The lawsuit from Franchini followed the news organizations’ coverage of six veterans suing the Togus VA Medical Center in Augusta in 2017 over alleged mistreatment for foot and ankle problems by Franchini.

The Court, however, found that Franchini was a limited-purpose public figure, therefore the district court’s previous ruling was correct. As a public figure, Franchini does not have the right to “any recovery in the absence of proof of actual malice,” the first circuit wrote in its opinion.

The mistakes Franchini allegedly made include drilling the wrong screw into the bone of one patient, severing a tendon in another, conducting unnecessary surgeries and twice failing to properly fuse a woman’s ankle, according to a report from USA Today.

Instead of being fired, the newspaper’s investigation found, the department allowed him to quietly resign and open a private practice in another state.