4 ms·
It’s very difficult to sue someone in the US over the content of their book. Free speech was written into the constitution and then extended by the Supreme Cour
by javagram 8y ago
It’s very difficult to sue someone in the US over the content of their book. Free speech was written into the constitution and then extended by the Supreme Court into a near absolute right unlike that in other western countries.
- simple_phrases 8y agoGiving medical advice, much like legal advice, opens you up to liability.
- jjeaff 8y agoNot a lawyer. But as far as I know, only if you are providing medical services. I don't think a book would rise to that level. If it did, no professionals would ever write about medical issues for fear of being sued when their hypothesis don't work, or have side effects. Now, if you were a health care provider and told your patients to read this book and do everything it tells you, you could probably sue the doctor. But not the author.
- anigbrowl 8y agoAt an interpersonal level yes, but if you publish the same bad advice in a book you're fine.
- everdev 8y agoThere are tons of exceptions though. Most applicably to this conversation speech that can threaten or cause physical harm is not protected. There's the famous example that yelling "fire" in a crowded theater is not protected speech. Threatening someone with violence is not protected, nor is telling someone to jump in a lake if they can't swim. There are also laws around giving bad advice, which is what legal and medical malpractice is about.
- javagram 8y agoFire in a crowded theater is a famous exception. It’s also from a 1919 case that was subsequently overruled as the Supreme Court broaded free speech protections after WW2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schenck_v._United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schenck_v._United_States