The Case of the British Medical Journal

22 July 2006

The British Medical Journal (BMJ) publishes an article alleging that Dr. Rath had gone on trial in a court in Hamburg, Germany "for fraud". The article suggested that Dr. Rath was accused of the serious crime of fraud in relation with the death of a child with cancer and that he was responsible for the death of the child. None of this was true. This defamatory BMJ article not only damaged Dr. Rath as a person, but also his work as a scientific pioneer in the natural control of cancer.
 

27 July 2006

Dr. Rath filed a complaint with the BMJ, followed by a lawsuit in a London court seeking a retraction, an apology and the payment of damages from the BMJ for the harm done by the publication of the false allegations in its article.
 

25 August 2006

The court of Cologne, Germany issued a preliminary order against the BMJ injuncting it from continuing to disseminate these false statements online and offline in Germany. In case of violation of this order, the BMJ would have to pay a 250.000 Euro fine.
 

23 September 2006

The BMJ publishes a retraction and an apology to Dr. Rath.
 

9 October 2006

The judge of the Hamburg court concludes, that Dr. Rath has "likely played the role of a pioneer in the natural control of cancer".
 

9 January 2007

In an open letter to the BMJ’s Editor-inchief, Fiona Godlee, Dr Rath expressed his determination to have this important case decided in a British court.

Perhaps fearing that the scientifically established facts about the health benefits of vitamins would be heard in court and thereby widely publicized, the BMJ changed its strategy. BMJ Editor Godlee filed an application asking the court to rule that Dr Rath should accept the BMJ’s offer of damages to the amount of £100,000.
 

15 February 2007

In return for the BMJ paying these staggering damages to Dr Rath the British court allows it to avoid the full case being heard in front of a judge.
 

Dr Rath had the option to appeal this decision and ensure that the scientific facts on natural therapies would be heard in court. However, he decided to accept the BMJ’s “offer“ and use the entire award to fund further research and public health education – beginning with the natural health “Victory Lecture“ in London.