Doctors, Defamation and Damages: Medical Practitioners Fighting Back

In three judgments in favour of New South Wales medical practitioners between 2017 and 2019 the Supreme Court awarded ordinary and aggravated damages for harm done to professional reputations. The decisions in Al Muderis v Duncan (No 3) [2017] NSWSC 726, O'Neill v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd (No 2) [2019] NSWSC 655 and Tavakoli v Imisides (No 4) [2019] NSWSC 7 are considered in the context of international decisions and analysis of doctors taking defamation action arising from online publications. Reflections are provided about the repercussions of the phenomenon, its commercial justification and the inhibitions that should be experienced before defamation and injurious falsehood actions are taken by medical practitioners.