  The energy loss of a relativistic charge undergoing multiple scatterings
while traversing an infinite, polarizable and absorptive plasma is
investigated. Polarization and damping mechanisms in the medium are
phenomenologically modelled by a complex index of refraction. Apart from the
known Ter-Mikaelian effect related to the dielectric polarization of matter, we
find an additional, substantial reduction of the energy loss due to damping of
radiation. The observed effect is more prominent for larger damping and/or
larger energy of the charge. A conceivable analog of this phenomenon in QCD
could influence the study of jet quenching phenomena in ultra-relativistic
heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and LHC.
