Cases

Sharma v Jay & Others

Facts

The Claimant was a psychiatrist with a particular interest in schizophrenia. As well as being a senior lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry ("IOP") he owned a private clinical research-based company called Psychmed Limited. In 1999 the Claimant agreed to carry out a comparative study into drugs for schizophrenia which was funded by a pharmaceutical company in the sum of £175,000. In 2000 the company became concerned about certain aspects of the Claimant's conduct and retained the Third Defendant to investigate its concerns. The First and Second Defendant (for the Third Defendant) attended a meeting in March 2001 at the IOP in order to find out more about the study. The Claimant contended that at the meeting he was slandered and that the Defendants investigations which involved approaching a number of third parties amounted to harassment. The Defendants pleaded qualified privilege and justification. The Defendants applied to strike out, alternatively apply for summary judgment.

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