On July 11, 2006, a Florida appellate court reinstated a defamation lawsuit filed by a doctor against the Florida Medical Association (FMA) and several other doctors, based on the defendants having instigated professional peer review of the plaintiff’s expert testimony in a medical malpractice suit. The defendants had begun their investigation because they did not believe that the opinions expressed by the plaintiff doctor in his expert testimony demonstrated professional competence. The decision was a setback for WLF, which filed a brief in the case, urging that the trial court’s dismissal of the case be upheld. WLF argued that both Florida and federal law provide immunity from money damages to doctors who criticize their peers in connection with peer review proceedings. In reinstating the defamation lawsuit, the appeals court ruled that immunity extends only to complaints regarding a doctor’s competence in treating an actual patient, not to competence in expert testimony.