SmileDirectClub Files $2.8 Billion Lawsuit Against NBC Over Defamatory And Error-Filled ‘Nightly News’ Story
May 18 2020 - 4:39PM
SmileDirectClub, Inc. (NASDAQ: SDC) the oral care company and first
direct-to-consumer medtech platform for teeth
straightening, announced today that it has filed a lawsuit seeking
approximately $2.8 billion from NBC Universal Media (“NBC”) and
reporter Vicky Nguyen for knowingly and intentionally making
factually inaccurate, misleading and defamatory claims about the
Company and its platform on an NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
report.
NBC’s February 13, 2020 ‘Nightly News’ report contained more
than 40 false and misleading statements about SmileDirectClub and
the treatment patients receive from the hundreds of board-certified
doctors who use the company’s platform to treat patients, the
Company said in the lawsuit filed at the state courthouse in
Nashville. SmileDirectClub’s reputation was wrongly sullied and its
business unjustly harmed as a result of the NBC story according to
the suit.
“The breadth of its misconduct is staggering,” the Company said
in the 205-page lawsuit. “NBC misled its viewers and readers about
the safety of the treatment that patients receive when using SDC’s
platform, the involvement of licensed dentists and orthodontists in
the treatment of patients when using SDC’s platform, and the
benefits that patients receive when they are treated using SDC’s
platform. Incredibly, nearly everything that NBC stated and implied
about SDC in its broadcast and online report was factually
inaccurate.”
The Company added, “Making matters worse, NBC knew it was not
telling the truth to its viewers and readers.”
In the wake of NBC’s report, and as a direct result of it, SDC’s
market cap plummeted by $950 million. As provided for by law,
SmileDirectClub is seeking to recover treble damages pursuant to
Tennessee’s Consumer Protection Act.
“SmileDirectClub gave NBC every opportunity to retract this
defamatory report and correct the record voluntarily. NBC choose
not to so. At that point, the company had no choice but to bring
this lawsuit to defend its brand and the reputation of hundreds of
doctors who are using SmileDirectClub’s telehealth platform to
treat patients every day,” said J. Erik Connolly, Vice Chair of the
Litigation Practice Group at Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan &
Aronoff, and outside counsel for SmileDirectClub. “With this
lawsuit, SmileDirectClub is not just holding NBC accountable for
its misconduct, but it is also telling its affiliated doctors and
shareholders that SmileDirectClub stands by their side and will
fight to protect their interests and reputations.”
According to the lawsuit, prior to NBC publishing its reports,
SmileDirectClub made available to NBC hundreds of pages of
documents demonstrating the safety and effectiveness, and benefits,
of the treatment patients receive using the company’s telehealth
platform.
Additionally, SmileDirectClub made senior officers available to
NBC to answer questions and arranged interviews with doctors who
treat patients using SDC’s platform, as well as with many of the
more than 750,000 patients whose lives have been changed for the
better as a result of the treatment they received.
NBC chose to ignore this information and these sources because
it never intended to publish the truth, according to the
lawsuit.
“NBC must be held accountable for its abuse of power and
betrayal of trust,” the Company said in the lawsuit. “Viewers and
readers across the country turn to the media for the information
they need to make decisions about their health and well-being. NBC
abused their trust by publishing reports about SDC that were
littered with false and misleading statements. NBC’s misconduct not
only financially injured SDC, but it also prevented patients from
seeking the affordable treatment they need for their orthodontic
problems and caused investors to lose millions, if not billions, of
dollars.”
About SmileDirectClub SmileDirectClub, Inc.
(Nasdaq: SDC) (“SmileDirectClub”) is an oral care company and
creator of the first direct-to-consumer medtech platform for teeth
straightening, now also offered directly via dentist and
orthodontists’ offices. Through our cutting-edge teledentistry
technology and vertically integrated model, we are revolutionizing
the oral care industry, from clear aligner therapy to our
affordable, premium oral care product line. SmileDirectClub’s
mission is to democratize access to affordable and convenient care,
unleashing the power of a person’s smile to positively impact their
place in the world. SmileDirectClub is headquartered in Nashville,
Tennessee and operates in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and Hong Kong. For more
information, please visit SmileDirectClub.com.
Contact: SmileDirectClub Media Relations: Press@SmileDirectClub.com
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