A prominent Democratic attorney and Georgia state representative has publicly condemned MSNBC and its anchor Rachel Maddow for their coverage of Dr. Mahendra Amin, a gynecologist falsely accused of performing unnecessary hysterectomies at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility.
The criticism follows a reported $30 million settlement in a defamation lawsuit brought by Dr. Amin against MSNBC’s parent company, NBCUniversal.
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Stacey Evans, who represents Georgia House District 57 and served as Dr. Amin’s legal counsel, described the media coverage of her client as “reckless” and “preposterous” in statements made Thursday, as reported by Fox News Digital.
The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of Georgia, stemmed from reports that began in September 2020. An initial NBC News story cited a whistleblower alleging Dr. Amin performed mass hysterectomies on detainees at the Irwin County Detention Center. Subsequently, MSNBC aired segments labeling Dr. Amin a “uterus collector,” a term used on programs including “Deadline: White House,” “All In with Chris Hayes,” and “The Rachel Maddow Show.”
Evans singled out Maddow’s reporting as particularly egregious. “It was Rachel Maddow who tried to tie Dr. Amin as the next chapter in the continuing saga, essentially, of mistreatment of immigrants by the Donald Trump administration,” Evans told Fox News Digital. She noted Maddow allegedly framed the story by referencing Trump administration policies like child separation before presenting Dr. Amin’s case.
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The case had been scheduled for trial on April 22 in Waycross before the settlement was reached last week.
Evans, a self-described regular viewer of MSNBC, stated the experience has made her more skeptical of media coverage. “It’s disappointing that any media would be so reckless,” she said. Evans asserted that MSNBC continued to push the narrative even when internal records, allegedly accessible to NBC, showed only two hysterectomies had occurred, both deemed medically necessary by ICE’s own reviews. She characterized the media’s handling as a “classic example of following sensationalism as opposed to facts.”
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Prior to the settlement, Federal Judge Lisa Godbey Wood, presiding over the case, had ruled that a jury could reasonably find “actual malice” in the reporting. The court noted “undisputed evidence” demonstrated “there were no mass hysterectomies or high numbers of hysterectomies at the facility,” and that Dr. Amin was not a “uterus collector.”
With the settlement finalized, the planned trial has been canceled. As of the time of reporting, neither NBCUniversal nor MSNBC has issued a public statement regarding the settlement or responded to media requests for comment.
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