On 3 March 2019, The Mail on Sunday published articles (one headlined “The deadly propaganda of the statin deniers”) in which we featured Dr Zoë Harcombe PhD, a researcher, writer and public speaker on diet, health and nutritional science, and Dr Malcolm Kendrick, a GP, writer, and lecturer, with an interest in cardiovascular disease. Dr Harcombe and Dr Kendrick brought proceedings for libel.
At trial, the Court held that our articles had accused Dr Harcombe and Dr Kendrick of knowingly making false statements about statins, and that a very large number of people ceased to take statin medication and were exposed to serious risk of heart attack or stroke on a scale worse than the MMR vaccine scandal as a result of those false statements. The articles also alleged that there were strong grounds to suspect Dr Harcombe and Dr Kendrick of making these statements motivated by the hope that they would benefit materially, and included quotes from the then Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, which suggested that their statements were ‘pernicious lies’.
We accept the findings of the Court that the inclusion of the Hancock quote created a misleading impression of what he said. We also accept that these allegations are untrue and ought not to have been published.
We are happy to set the record straight, and apologise to Dr Harcombe and Dr Kendrick for the distress caused. We will not repeat the allegations and have agreed to pay substantial damages and costs.
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