In its latest effort to confront what it sees as misinformation, UnitedHealth Group has filed a defamation lawsuit against the Guardian over a May news story that asserted the Eden Prairie-based health company grew its profits and harmed patients by slashing nursing home transfers to hospitals.

In the lawsuit filed this week in a Delaware court against the international news publication, UnitedHealth said the article contained numerous false accusations. Among them: The health care company secretly paid nursing homes to enroll patients in UnitedHealthcare insurance and then coerced residents to sign do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders, preventing costly hospitalizations and lifesaving treatments.

The Guardian said in a statement that it stands by its story.

The lawsuit claims the news organ

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