Court awards $38M in damages to Dr Balwant Singh’s Hospital and CEO in defamation case against ‘Melly Mel’

The High Court has ordered social media personality Melissa Ann Atwell, also known as “Melly Mell,” to pay a total of $35 million in damages to Dr Balwant Singh’s Hospital Inc. and its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Madhu Singh, after finding that a series of Facebook posts in June 2019 were defamatory. The court also ordered Atwell to remove the defamatory statements from her Facebook account and to pay prescribed costs of $3.15 million.

Justice Fidela Corbin-Lincoln, in a judgment delivered on 3 September 2025, ruled that the posts – 33 separate stories published over five days – imputed professional malpractice, medical negligence, and improper billing practices against the hospital and Dr Singh. The court said the statements constituted a “very serious form of libel,” striking at the claimants’ professional reputation.

Dr Singh, a gynaecologist and obstetrician, testified that the publications left her subject to ridicule and suspicion among peers, anonymous threats, online trolling, and emotional distress, although she continues to practise medicine. While no evidence of pecuniary loss or psychological trauma was produced, the court accepted that the allegations caused “distress, hurt and humiliation.”

The hospital was awarded $15 million in damages, while Dr Singh was awarded $20 million. Both sums include aggravated damages.

Justice Corbin-Lincoln noted that Atwell failed to verify the truth of the claims before publishing and persisted with a defence of justification without evidence, which aggravated the damages.

“Facebook libel was appropriately described as ‘libel without borders’… its use to circulate unverified defamatory allegations which cannot be proved must be met with the appropriate consequences,” the judge said.

The attorneys who represented Balwant Singh Hospital and its CEO were Mr. Robin Stoby, S.C., Mr. Stephen Fraser SC and Mrs. Shantel Scott-Lall.

The attorneys who represented Melly Mel were Mr. Sanjeev Datadin, Mr. Donovan Rangiah, Ms. Anessa Chow and Ms. Mohanie Anagnaoo for the Defendant.