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Answer


Generally, accusing someone of having a horrible disease when the accuser knows or should reasonably know that the person does not have the disease can support a defamation claim.

t may be possible to file suit for defamation/slander/libel depending on the statements made and the manner in which they were made. It is important to remember that a successful defamation/slander/libel suit requires that statements be made to or in front of someone other than you and that some form of damages occur.

It is important to note that, depending on your state laws, there are many possible defenses to defamation/slander/libel.

Defenses to defamation/slander/libel include:
Fair comments on matters of public interest: an argument made in which the person making the argument has an honest belief in the matter. This is sometimes applied to statements regarding official acts and faulty logic or reason may or may not defeat this defense.
Consent: consenting to the statement.
Innocent Dissemination: the person making the statement had no reason to believe the statement was defamatory (unless the person was negligent in his lack of knowledge).
No Actual Injury: no one who heard the statement believed it.Statements made in good faith with the reasonable belief that the statments were true.
Privilege: applies in numerous cases, including on legislature floors.
Opinion: an opinion is merely opinion and not a statement of truth or fact (though some jurisdictions vary).
Never Communicated to a Third Party: the statement was never communicated to anyone but the plaintiff.
Incapable of Further Defamation: the plaintiff's reputation is so poor that the statement could not have done damage.

In some states, when an individual accuses someone of having a particularly horrible disease, the statement itself may constitute slander per se, requiring only a showing that the statement was made and requiring no showing of special damages for the individual to recover.


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Expert:	T-USA
Pos. Feedback:	99.3 %
Accepts:	2459
Answered:	8/28/2009

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