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Surgeon Munjed Al Muderis outside court in Sydney this week.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Dion Georgopoulos<\/cite><\/p>\n The court heard that the day after the trailer the PR, Kate Reddin, sought responses on an osseointegration peer support Facebook page from people who had also developed maggots after their surgery.<\/p>\n Osseointegration surgery involves inserting titanium pins into the residual bone of an amputee, allowing prosthetic limbs to be connected.<\/p>\n The Federal Court was shown several responses from people who replied saying that they had.<\/p>\n Al Muderis denied the move was an effort to stave off negative perceptions about maggots in surgical wounds.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the way maggots have been portrayed as a major disaster,\u201d Al Muderis said. \u201cMaggots are not a major problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Surgeon Munjed Al Muderis and barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC, at the Federal Court in Sydney earlier this month.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Steven Siewert<\/cite><\/p>\n The 60 Minutes<\/em> trailer was aired on September 11, but the show\u2019s broadcast was put back for one week after news broke of the death of Queen Elizabeth II.<\/p>\n Al Muderis is suing The Age<\/em>, The Sydney Morning Herald<\/em> and 60 Minutes<\/em> over reports published and aired in September 2022. He alleges the reports convey a range of defamatory meanings, including that he negligently performed osseointegration surgery and provided inadequate aftercare.<\/p>\n Nine, owner of the media outlets, is seeking to rely on a range of defences including a new public interest defence, truth and honest opinion.<\/p>\n Earlier on Friday, Al Muderis\u2019 barrister, Sue Chrysanthou, SC, alleged that Nine had been a party to \u201cconcocting complaints\u201d against her client.<\/p>\n Matt Collins, KC, acting for the news outlets, cross-examined Al Muderis about a series of text messages between the surgeon and a patient, Rowena Mattiske.<\/p>\n Mattiske had undergone repeated surgeries including osseointegration and complained to Al Muderis that she had become largely confined to her chair and that her pain had worsened.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a patient in dire circumstances,\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n \u201cI disagree with this statement,\u201d Al Muderis replied.<\/p>\n Chrysanthou alleged it was \u201cbeyond coincidence\u201d that Mattiske had texted Al Muderis in October and November complaining about her condition, after The Age<\/em>, The Sydney Morning Herald<\/em> and 60 Minutes <\/em>published and aired their reports.<\/p>\n Chrysanthou said another former patient, Mark Urquart, had similarly been happy with Al Muderis\u2019 treatment for years, exchanging \u201c110 pages [worth] of happy messages\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then out of nowhere he\u2019s unhappy,\u201d she told Justice Wendy Abraham.<\/p>\n \u201cWe allege that the complaints are concocted from … about May 2022 onwards, and that all the complaints that came through from May 2022 are part of a concocted scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n The Federal Court was earlier shown photographs of Mattiske\u2019s stump, including reddened areas and secretions. The patient had texted photographs of her osseointegration site, saying \u201csmelly muck\u201d had been coming out of it.<\/p>\n Al Muderis said the photographs did \u201cnot necessarily\u201d show infection, and \u201cthey all [patients] present with this feature\u201d of discharge. \u201cIt\u2019s no different to any orifice in the body.\u201d<\/p>\n The hearing continues.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n