AUSTIN, Texas (CN) — A pediatric dentist claims in a defamation lawsuit that TV host Nancy Grace and other media outlets falsely portrayed him as causing the death of a 14-month-old girl through unnecessary dental treatment.
Dr. Michael Melanson sued Nancy Grace – both individually and as principal of the “Nancy Grace” show – as well as Turner Broadcasting System, CBS Television Distribution, and the Daily Mail in Travis County District Court on Monday. Also named as defendants in the complaint are FHT Media Holding, which does business as Womanista, and Erin Elizabeth Finn, who runs the website www.healthnutnews.com.
Melanson says the defamatory media reports followed the 2016 death of Daisy Lynn Torres. He describes her death as an “unfortunate, unforeseeable and unavoidable death of a child due to complications from anesthesia which was administered in accordance with accepted standards of care and as medically indicated and necessary.”
The dentist claims the gist of the media reports wrongfully portray him as causing Torres’ death by treating a dental disease that did not exist.
“When salacious and scandalous allegations are unleashed online they inevitably spread like wildfire destroying reputations, undermining relationships and turning lives upside down. Such is the case here,” the doctor’s complaint states.
In February, Torres’ parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Melanson, Austin Children’s Dentistry and Texan Anesthesiology Association. Betty Squier and Elizandro Torres alleged that their daughter died from unnecessary general anesthesia for needless dental work done by Melanson and the clinic.
The parents cited a report by Dr. Robert Williams, an independent forensic odontologist who said he did not see enough evidence of tooth decay or pain in Torres’ records to justify the surgery performed by Melanson.
Williams had been sued for defamation by Austin Children’s Dentistry in September of last year over the report saying it was responsible for Daisy’s death. Melanson likewise sued Williams for defamation in October 2016.
In Melanson’s latest lawsuit, he again discusses the role of Williams’ forensic report and claims Williams is not a pediatric dentist and does not have extensive history in pediatric dentistry.
He says the report was “alarming, damaging, controversial, inflammatory and scandalous.”
“The statement called into question whether the professional judgment and dental practices of Dr. Melanson met the applicable standards of dental care and were honest and ethical. The report questioned whether the deceased patient had any dental disease, and whether the treatment by Dr. Melanson was necessary,” the lawsuit states.
Melanson claims the report resulted in a ruling by the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office of an “undetermined” cause of death for the girl instead of a “natural” designation.
He says the publishing of Williams’ forensic report led to a “frenzy” of salacious and scandalous media stories and negative scrutiny about him. He alleges he was “vilified in the media, including on a national level via various outlets and sources.”
The dentist further alleges that the report resulted in his suspension by Austin Children’s Dentistry, which conducted both internal and independent reviews of the statements in the report.
The clinic concluded in its own review that the treatment provided to Torres was dentally necessary and appropriate, according to the complaint, and outside reviews also reached conclusions in favor of Melanson.
