Drug Abuse Claims to Get Second Look in Doctors’ Business Row

Claims alleging a doctor’s former partner is a drug abuser and racist shouldn’t have been stricken from a complaint unless they had no possible relevance to a business dispute between the two, a state court said.

Striking portions of a complaint as “scandalous” is allowed only when the allegations would have no possible bearing on the lawsuit’s outcome and are extremely prejudicial, the Georgia Supreme Court said March 4. The court remanded the case to the trial court to apply that standard .

Ortho Sport & Spine Physicians Savannah LLC sued physician James Chappuis, his property ownership company, and his ...