Defamation lawsuits: academic sword or shield?

Scientists and academics are used to defending their theories, methods, and results in the classroom, at conferences, and in peer‐reviewed publications. But Pieter Cohen, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, learned that he had to defend his research in a defamation suit while reading a supplement industry trade publication (Robins, [Robins R, 2017]). Cohen is known as a “dogged detective” for scrutinizing dietary supplements and for advocating for their stricter oversight by the US Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ).