PicoDash

Show's producers also named in lawsuit

NEW YORK — A Dallas cosmetic surgeon is suing ABC, “20/20” and Diane Sawyer for allegedly defaming him last year as part of a hidden-camera expose about poorly trained practitioners.

Dr. James H. Fowler contended in a federal lawsuit filed last week that the primetime news mag damaged his practice, provoked an unfounded state investigation and inflicted emotional distress. Fowler seeks a jury trial for legal fees and unspecified punitive and compensatory damage awards for lost business and professional stature.

Also named in the lawsuit are “20/20” producers Robbie Gordon, Sarah Walker and Phu Nguyen.

The segment, which aired Nov. 3, 1999, concluded that some physicians with no formal training in plastic surgery had started cosmetic surgery practices and, through inexperience, had disfigured patients.

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Fowler objected to portions of the segment that cast him as one of the inexperienced doctors. The segment showed him telling a prospective patient working undercover for “20/20” that his work had caused no serious complications, although six malpractice lawsuits had been filed against him. All but one of those suits had been settled out of court.

ABC News declined to comment on the case.

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