Court will not overturn $5 million slander award

The Supreme Court will not overturn a Florida surgeon’s $5 million slander award after a hospital executive said he would not send his dog to the doctor for surgery.

The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Lawnwood Medical Center, Inc. It argued that the award given to Dr. Samuel Sadow was excessive.

Sadow and the hospital had been fighting in court because the doctor was denied privileges to do surgery in Lawnwood’s open-heart institute. A Lawnwood official then told another doctor about Sadow: “I would not send my dog to him for surgery.”

Sadow sued for slander, and a jury awarded him $5 million in punitive damages. A Florida appeals court upheld the award.

The case is Lawnwood v. Sadow, 10-371.