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AMA Manual of Style (10th edition ed.) : A Guide for Authors and Editors

AMA Manual of Style Committee

Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Print Publication Date:
Mar 2007
Print ISBN-13:
9780195176339
Published to AMA Manual of Style:
Apr 2009
DOI:
10.1093/jama/9780195176339.001.0001
© American Medical Association
Contents

Groups of Individuals

Chapter:
Ethical and Legal Considerations
Author(s):

Annette Flanagin

5.9.3 Groups of Individuals

Defamatory statements about groups of individuals are usually not legally actionable if the group is so large that no individual can be identified in the statements.3,4 For example, broad statements about specific groups (eg, physicians) or entities (eg, the pharmaceutical industry) are not at risk for libel actions because no single individual or company is identifiable.