A federal judge has thrown out a high-stakes defamation battle between the makers of Splenda and a North Carolina scientist.
Splenda manufacturer TC Heartland sued North Carolina State University professor Dr. Susan Schiffman after she published research linking the artificial sweetener to DNA damage and cancer. The company claimed her study was a "deliberate fraud" designed to grab headlines, while Schiffman counter-sued, accusing the corporate giant of trying to silence her.
But federal judge Catherine Eagles sent both sides packing, dismissing all claims with prejudice. Eagles ruled that both the scientific findings and the company's criticisms are fully protected by the First Amendment.
The judge said scientists are not required to defend their data in court just because a corporation dislikes the publicity.
