ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A national television news program did not defame a Buffalo cardiac surgeon when it used a hidden camera to record his comments about a study that ranked mortality rates for surgeons, an upstate appellate court has decided.
Unanimously reversing a lower-court decision, the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, last Friday dismissed a complaint by the surgeon that “PrimeTime Live” injured his reputation in a 1992 broadcast that was repeated a year later (Balderman v. American Broadcasting Companies Inc., CA 01-01699).
