She described Nine’s allegation that Al Muderis had failed to care for patients after surgery as hurtful, awful and unproven. “It’s such an awful allegation that’s wholly unproven, that he dumps these people,” Chrysanthou said.
Chrysanthou also attacked the credibility of Age investigative reporter Charlotte Grieve and urged the court to make a finding against her.
Investigative journalist Charlotte Grieve (left) outside the Federal Court.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
Grieve has defended the depth and fairness of her reporting during the trial, saying the coverage was in the public interest and the articles made it “abundantly clear” that not all patients were unhappy after their treatment.
“It was looking into what happens when this surgery goes wrong … are these complications normal? What is this surgery and … how is it marketed?” Grieve told the court. “I believe we did summarise the benefits of osseointegration, and we went to great lengths to acknowledge that your client has done incredible things for many people.”
During his closing address on Tuesday, Nine lawyer Dr Matt Collins KC said Al Muderis was undeserving of his unblemished reputation, following “glaring examples, in our submission, of negligence in surgery, in each case, with catastrophic results”.
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“Now, the case studies in relation to negligence in surgery are particularly significant in our submission because at the core of a surgeon’s right to a good reputation is the performance of surgery to a competent standard,” he said.
On Monday, Collins told the court that Al Muderis was not a reliable witness and appeared to be “incapable of admitting errors”.
Collins also said nothing of substance had emerged during the 15-week defamation case to “shake the fundamental accuracy” of Nine’s reporting.
“What the evidence established was discreditable conduct by him before surgery, during surgery, after surgery,” Collins said. “Dr Al Muderis, in our submission, is a very unsatisfactory witness.”
The trial has run for 15 weeks. Al Muderis’ lawyers will continue their closing submission on Thursday.
With Melissa Cunningham
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