Investigative journalist defends stories on renowned orthopaedic surgeon

1 week ago 9

An investigative writer has batted distant allegations that a bid of articles she helped write, which criticised the aesculapian signifier of a renowned orthopaedic surgeon, implied helium took “shortcuts to marque money”.

On Tuesday, newsman for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald Charlotte Grieve defended the extent and fairness of her reporting arsenic she was cross-examined by surgeon Munjed Al Muderis’ barrister, Sue Chrysanthou, SC, successful the Federal Court.

Munjed Al Muderis is pursuing a defamation lawsuit implicit reports from 2022.

The months-long defamation proceedings volition besides spot 60 Minutes newsman Tom Steinfort and shaper Natalie Clancy instrumentality the basal successful coming days.

Al Muderis is suing The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes implicit reports published and aired successful September 2022.

He alleges the reports convey a scope of defamatory meanings, including that helium negligently performed osseointegration country and provided inadequate aftercare. Osseointegration country involves fitting a prosthetic limb straight onto the bony of an amputated leg.

Nine Entertainment Co, proprietor of the media outlets being sued, is seeking to trust connected a scope of defences including a caller nationalist involvement defence, information and honorable opinion.

Over hours of cross-examination of Grieve, Chrysanthou scrutinised, condemnation by sentence, a bid of published articles successful The Age and Sydney Morning Herald connected Al Muderis, taking purpose astatine words and headlines utilized successful the stories.

Investigative writer Charlotte Grieve (left) arrives astatine the Federal Court of Australia.

Chrysanthou suggested Nine deliberately focused connected “highly sensational oregon evocative claims” to incite disgust astir her lawsuit from readers and viewers, including a patient’s relationship that helium had developed maggots successful his tummy aft surgery.

She besides alleged the usage of words specified arsenic “mutilated” and “botched”, implied Al Muderis’ glowing estimation was “fake and undeserved” and suggested the bulk of his patients were unhappy and had “suffered” astatine the hands of the orthopaedic surgeon.

Grieve told the tribunal the published articles made it “abundantly clear” that not each patients were unhappy aft their treatment. “In some the people and successful broadcast [stories], we are astatine large pains to admit that galore radical were happy, though for the ones [patients] who weren’t determination were akin patterns and important concerns,” she said.

On the substance of maggots, Grieve told the court: “It’s a distressing concern of an unforeseen hazard of this country that was not tended to successful an due clip oregon manner.”

Chrysanthou besides accused Grieve and Nine Publishing of attempting to unfairly overgarment Al Muderis arsenic a surgeon who “developed a estimation for seldom saying no” and who lived a beingness of luxury including driving a McLaren and being spotted successful his wife’s Lamborghini.

But Grieve told the tribunal the fiscal facet of the communicative was applicable due to the fact that galore patients had spent their beingness savings to wage for the surgeries undertaken by Al Muderis.

“It was applicable to the communicative insofar arsenic patients had expressed to america concerns that helium was presenting himself arsenic purely altruistic, purely motivated by humanitarian work, and was often doing a batch of these surgeries for free,” Grieve told the court.

“We knew done … US tribunal documents, astatine least, that helium was making important nett margins connected osseointegration… it was a applicable constituent successful the communicative due to the fact that a fig of patients had mentioned this seeming opposition betwixt the nationalist representation that helium portrays and the backstage world that helium lives.”

Before Grieve’s evidence, Al Muderis failed successful an effort to forestall a peer’s appraisal of him to beryllium allowed to beryllium utilized arsenic grounds successful the case.

Federal Court justice Wendy Abraham ruled that the tribunal would judge grounds from a Sydney surgeon that Al Muderis had a “poor reputation” among immoderate of his colleagues and is “considered to deficiency judgment, empathy and, connected respective occasions, felt to person made mediocre decisions”.

Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Dimitri Papadimitriou gave grounds past twelvemonth that helium had performed country connected 1 of Al Muderis’ erstwhile patients, Leah Mooney, successful September 2011, aft Al Muderis had doubly operated to hole Mooney’s severely breached near leg.

Papadimitriou told a proceeding past twelvemonth helium had observed that the “fracture had been fixed successful a mediocre alignment” during the archetypal surgery, with the limb “going outwards” and the tribunal antecedently heard a portion of drill had been near successful the patient’s leg.

Abraham wrote successful her ruling Papadimitriou’s grounds was “admissible and determination is nary due ground to exclude it” from the trial.

But Abraham’s uncovering was disputed successful tribunal by Chrysanthou, who told the tribunal Al Muderis had lone been a surgeon for 2 years successful 2011, and argued Papadimtriou was “an outlier” successful his sentiment of the high-profile orthopedic surgeon.

“The grounds we’re seeking to code is not to remedy his [Al Muderis’] estimation successful 2011 ... it is his estimation successful 2022 astatine the clip of publication,” she said.

“That’s rather a antithetic class to his reputation, implicit a decennary aboriginal ... and it’s frankly, successful our submission, beauteous worthless.”

An ensuing ineligible statement astatine times became heated, with Abraham astatine 1 constituent telling Chrysanthou she did not request to outcry . Chrysanthou responded: “I’m not yelling.”

The proceedings continues.