Dr. Ed Livingston, renowned surgeon, educator, and researcher, who was a former deputy editor at JAMA, found himself out of a job after a JAMA podcast he hosted with Dr. Mitch Katz that discussed, among other items, structural racism as a contributor to the high mortality in minorities from COVID. This incident led to a series of lawsuits, some of which were highly publicized.

Ed shares behind the scenes events, incidents, and what transpired in 2021, and how the AMA handled the situation. In this episode, Ed shares his background, career path, passion for education and medicine, and his disappointment at how everything was handled by the AMA.

This is a rare discussion with some information being shared for the first time ever with listeners and viewers.

The AMA declined the request to comment and provide their side of the story.

Superior court ruling Livingston v AMA (AMA declares that physicians not entitled to due process, rules that the AMA committed libel and defamation): https://rulings.law/rulings/judge-curtis-a-kin/22stcv09441-2022-10-13.html

Unanimous Appellate decision regarding libel and defamation by the AMA, Adds an additional finding of false light and invasion of privacy https://www4.courts.ca.gov/opinions/nonpub/B324638.PDF

X post summarizing the Appellate decision (the court refers to the AMA as disingenuous): https://x.com/ehlJAMA/status/1852551140799291817

Article summarizing the Appellate decision (““[d]rawing all reasonable inferences in his favor, Livingston has made a prima facie case that the gist or sting of the accusation in statement [that the podcast ‘denied the existence of structural racism in medicine,’ was not true.”): http://www.metnews.com/articles/2024/defamation_11042024.htm

Court orders Livingston to pay $110,000 to AMA despite his prevailing on the key allegations: https://rulings.law/rulings/judge-joseph-lipner/22stcv09441-2025-04-08.html

Article from the lawyer representing the AMA declaring that the process the AMA used against Livingston is abused “the widely abused anti-SLAPP statute.”: https://www.law.com/therecorder/2019/06/03/calif-high-court-ruling-good-news-for-defamation-plaintiffs/?slreturn=20250722074004

X post with links to the various rulings: https://x.com/ehlJAMA/status/1913584194405425374

Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/

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