The BMJ wins libel case brought by gynaecologist

A High Court judge has dismissed a claim from a gynaecologist who sought damages from The BMJ for defamation after his fitness to practise case was reported in the journal. In December 2016 The BMJ reported1 that Joseph Onwude, a consultant gynaecologist, was struck off by a medical practitioners tribunal for dishonesty and misconduct that was incompatible with registration. Onwude, who qualified in Nigeria in 1981 and trained in Dublin and Leeds before becoming a fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, appealed against the tribunal’s decision. In May 2017 a High Court judge ruled that the tribunal in the case had reached a conclusion that “no reasonable tribunal could conceivably have reached,” and the decision to erase him was quashed, including the most serious …