Court Lets Fired Hospital IRB Head’s Defamation Allegations Go Forward

A state court Sept. 11 allowed a terminated IRB chairperson’s $30 million defamation lawsuit against a New York City hospital to go forward, ruling that statements at issue given during an FDA investigation weren’t privileged (Stega v. N.Y. Downtown Hosp., N.Y. Sup. Ct., 152716/13).

Jeanette Stega had argued that New York Downtown Hospital employees alleged to the hospital and to the Food and Drug Administration that she had stolen money paid by a clinical trial sponsor and that all clinical trial reviews of the “Internal Review Board” she led were “tainted.”

The Supreme Court of New York, ...