عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Prince Harry Drops Libel Case Against Daily Mail

(FILES) Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, waves as he leaves the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain's High Court, in central London on June 7, 2023. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)
(FILES) Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, waves as he leaves the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain's High Court, in central London on June 7, 2023. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)
TT
TT

Prince Harry Drops Libel Case Against Daily Mail

(FILES) Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, waves as he leaves the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain's High Court, in central London on June 7, 2023. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)
(FILES) Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, waves as he leaves the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain's High Court, in central London on June 7, 2023. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)

Prince Harry dropped his libel lawsuit Friday against the publisher of the Daily Mail tabloid following a punishing ruling in which a judge suggested he might lose at trial.
Lawyers for the Duke of Sussex notified the High Court in London that he would not continue the suit against Associated Newspapers Ltd., one of several cases he had pending in his high-profile battle with the British press.
No reason was given, but it came the day he was due to hand over documents in the case and after a punishing ruling last month in which a judge ordered Harry to pay the publisher nearly 50,000 pounds (more than $60,000) in legal fees after he failed to achieve victory without going to trial.
The action will leave him on the hook to pay the publisher's legal fees, which the Daily Mail reported to be 250,000 pounds ($316,000). A spokesperson for the duke said it was premature to speculate about costs.
Harry, 39, the estranged younger son of King Charles III, has broken ranks with the royal family in his willingness to go to court and it has become the main forum in his efforts to hold the news media accountable for hounding him throughout his life.
Associated Newspapers is one of three tabloid publishers he has sued over claims they used unlawful means, such as deception, phone hacking or hiring private investigators, to try to dig up dirt on him. That case against Associated and another against the publisher of The Sun are headed for trial.
In the sole case that has gone to trial, Harry scored a big victory last month against the publishers of the Daily Mirror when a judge ruled that phone hacking was “widespread and habitual” at Mirror Group Newspapers, and executives at the papers covered it up. He was awarded 140,000 pounds ($177,000).
The libel case involved a Mail on Sunday article that said Harry tried to hide his efforts to retain publicly funded protection in the United Kingdom after walking away from his role as a working member of the royal family.
Harry's lawyers claimed the article attacked his honesty and integrity by purporting to reveal that court documents “contradicted public statements he had previously made about his willingness to pay for police protection for himself and his family" while in the UK. He said the article would undermine his charity work.
The publisher argued the article expressed an honest opinion and caused no serious harm to his reputation.
In March, Harry sought summary judgment — to win the case without going to trial — and tried to knock out the Mail's defense but a judge didn't buy it.

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

FDA Approves First Nasal Spray to Treat Dangerous Allergic Reactions

Signage is seen outside of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in White Oak, Maryland, US, August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Signage is seen outside of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in White Oak, Maryland, US, August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
TT
TT

FDA Approves First Nasal Spray to Treat Dangerous Allergic Reactions

Signage is seen outside of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in White Oak, Maryland, US, August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Signage is seen outside of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in White Oak, Maryland, US, August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

US health officials on Friday approved a nasal spray to treat severe allergic reactions, the first needle-free alternative to shots like EpiPen.

The Food and Drug Administration said it approved the spray from drugmaker ARS Pharmaceuticals Inc. as an emergency treatment for adults and older children experiencing life-threatening allergic reactions known as anaphylaxis, The AP reported.

Anaphylaxis occurs when the body's immune system develops a sudden, unexpected reaction to a foreign substance, such as food, insect stings or medications. Common symptoms include hives, swelling, itching, vomiting and difficulty breathing.

The device, marketed as Neffy, could upend treatment for the 33 million to 45 million Americans with severe allergies to food and other triggers. Anaphylaxis sends more than 30,000 people to emergency rooms and results in more than 2,000 hospitalizations and more than 230 deaths in the US each year.

Of the 6 million prescriptions written for auto-injectors each year, more than 40% are never filled, Dr. Thomas Casale, an allergist at the University of South Florida, told an FDA advisory panel last year. Even when they are available to caregivers, many auto-injectors are used incorrectly, he said.

“There’s a real unmet medical need for a large portion of the population,” he said.

Neffy is intended for people who weigh at least 66 pounds. It is given in a single dose sprayed into one nostril. A second dose can be given if the person’s symptoms don’t improve.

The new treatment could be life-changing for people with severe food allergies, said Dr. Kelly Cleary, a pediatrician and director with the Food Allergy Research & Education, a nonprofit advocacy group.

“I have seen the look of worry or fear,” said Cleary, whose 11-year-old son has multiple food allergies. “I worry about what happens if someone hesitates.”

Requiring an injection in an emergency is as scary to some children as the allergic reaction itself. Some parents have had to restrain thrashing children to inject them, sometimes causing cuts that require stitches. About 3,500 caregivers a year are injured when they accidentally inject themselves in the hands, ARS said.

Priscilla Hernandez, of Pasadena, California said her 12-year-old son, Zacky, who is allergic to sesame, peanuts, tree nuts, avocado and other foods, was traumatized when he had a reaction at school about six years ago and a nurse treated him with an auto-injector.

“Having to do a shot creates this whole different level of anxiety,” she said.

She said, “we are over the moon” about the FDA's approval of the spray, which Zacky will start carrying when it becomes available.

First marketed in 1901, epinephrine predates the FDA itself. Products like the EpiPen auto-injector, approved in 1987, were authorized based on chemistry and manufacturing data and were not required to prove safety and efficacy.

Clinical trials of people experiencing potentially deadly reactions are difficult for ethical and pragmatic reasons. Instead, ARS officials compared the effect of the nasal spray on biological markers to existing epinephrine treatments.

Results showed Neffy worked about as well as injected epinephrine to boost heart rate and blood pressure, which counter severe reactions. The drug is combined with a patented agent that allows it to be easily absorbed through nasal membranes.