Allegedly defamatory report put focus on maggot risks

A colleague of a leading medical practitioner suing Nine for defamation has admitted a report by the publisher meant the risk of maggot infections was discussed more often with patients.

Munjed Al Muderis has sued Nine over reports alleging negligence and high-pressure sales tactics in relation to his prosthetic limb implants.

The reports featured in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and on 60 Minutes in September 2022.

Tim O'Carrigan is an orthopaedic surgeon who works alongside Dr Al Muderis at the Macquarie University Limb Reconstruction Centre.

Giving evidence in the Federal Court on Tuesday, he said having maggots around the site of an implant was an unpleasant risk for anyone undergoing osseointegration surgery.

In these procedures, a prosthetic is attached directly to the bone of an amputee.

"It's an unusual problem and particularly in light of the current circumstances, it would be relevant to tell a patient that," he told the court.

The surgeon clarified that he was referring to a 60 Minutes report in which former paratrooper Mark Urquhart, a patient of Dr Al Muderis, described finding maggots around the site of his prosthetic.

The news coverage meant medical practitioners at the Limb Reconstruction Centre now had a "heightened focus" on informing patients of the risk of similar problems, Dr O'Carrigan said.

However, he said it was a rare complication and it was impossible for surgeons to discuss every risk to a patient before an operation.

"You do not have hours and hours and hours to sit there and talk to a patient about every possible complication that could possibly occur in the history of the world," Dr O'Carrigan said.

Dr Al Muderis was also accused in Nine's reports of taking payment from patients arriving from the United States before assessing whether surgery was the right option for them or not.

Dr O'Carrigan was grilled about this type of conduct by Nine's barrister Matthew Collins KC.

"You wouldn't do it because you would regard it as an unethical practice," Dr Collins said.

"It's an unusual practice," the surgeon replied.

"An unethical practice, doctor?" the barrister pressed.

"I guess so," Dr O'Carrigan said.

The surgeon also admitted that Dr Al Muderis had made incorrect statements on his website, including that patients would only experience small amounts of discharge from the site of an implant.

In its defence, Nine has said the claims made in its reports were true or otherwise protected as journalism in the public interest.

The hearing before Justice Wendy Abraham continues.