High-profile Gold Coast cosmetic surgeon Cesidio Colagrande has won a defamation case against a rival liposuction doctor who left a fake review on a medical rating website.
The Federal Court of Australia ordered the Queensland doctor's "commercial competitor" Dr Min Sik Kim, and his wife Anna Min, pay $420,000 in damages and more than $30,000 in costs.
It followed their fake review posted on the RateMDs.com website during December 2018.
The one-star review said:
"After what he did to me, I can't believe he's still practising. Just read the article."
The review, which named Dr Colagrande and his business, contained a link to a news story.
The false review was alleged to be written by a patient, who claimed to have been sexually assaulted.
It came after Dr Colagrande was convicted of indecent assault of a patient but later had the conviction quashed.
He had pleaded not guilty during the trial.
Surgeon 'vindicated'
Outside court, Dr Colagrande said he was "overwhelmed by the judgement".
"I'm grateful for the constant support of my family and friends."
Diagnosed with PTSD
In her judgement, Justice Jayne Jagot said Dr Colagrande had originally assumed the review had been left by the former patient who had falsely accused him of sexual assault.
"Before reading the false review he was in control of his emotions and trying to get his life back on track, but was worried about the negative articles still published about him that misrepresented [him] as a sexual predator," she said.
"The false review took him back to relive the horror of the criminal trial and his conviction."
Justice Jagot said Dr Colagrande had visions of the verdict as he stood in the dock and other "nightmares and flashbacks".
"He could not sleep and took time off work to avoid making mistakes," she said.
Dr Colagrande has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Impacts of fake review
A number of witnesses who gave evidence during the trial said they had seen the review and chosen not to have surgery with Dr Colagrande.
Justice Jagot said she found their answers "clear, cogent and credible".
"They read the false review as a result of finding and looking at the RateMDs website in the Google search results," she said.
The court also found the Gold Coast doctor's evidence was "clear and persuasive".
Justice Jagot said the reading of the false review inflicted a profound new trauma upon Dr Colagrande, particularly because he believed it to have been written "by the patient who had made the accusation against him".
"Having seen and heard Dr Colagrande give evidence I have no doubt that this caused him to again be profoundly traumatised."
