Background to publishing of "Putting a surgeon under"

Brian Martin

In May 1997, I sent a draft of John Wright's article to a number of the key figures mentioned in or associated with it. My standard cover letter was as follows:

Please find enclosed a copy of a manuscript by John Wright entitled "Putting a surgeon under: a personal story of hospital politics." I plan to publish it on my web site (http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/) in the next month or so. Before proceeding, I would appreciate any comment you may have to ensure the accuracy of the story. In addition, I invite you to write a response or commentary to be published along with the manuscript. In this case, please send your contribution by e-mail or computer disc.

Please send any response to me by 16 June. If you have any queries please don't hesitate to contact me.

Until all comments are received and any necessary changes are made in the manuscript, I would appreciate your cooperation in not copying, quoting or circulating the manuscript without John Wright's permission.

Here is a summary of the responses received. Dr Wright has made alterations or additions to his article in response to some of these points.

• Professor John Beveridge sent two letters, one dated 18 May and the other undated but received 21 May. In the latter and more substantive letter, Professor Beveridge noted that his legal advice was that he should write listing errors of fact and matters which he regarded as defaming him. His points concerned Dr Wright's title, Beveridge's own vocabulary and philosophy, the issue of commercial factors, administration of research funds, and his exercise of responsibility to recommend withdrawal of Dr Wright's operating privileges.=
• Dr A. C. Bowring rang me on 23 May. He said he was sorry to hear that there was some further publication concerning Dr Wright and did not wish to see him suffer any further. He challenged many points in the manuscript but declined to write anything for publication or to mention any specific points that needed to be corrected.
• Dr Matthew Crawford sent me a long letter on 3 June. In it he described his training and experience and his work with Dr Wright. He presented various statistics to show that Dr Wright's replacement by another surgeon had led to considerably improved results. He also commented on some of the personal and organisational events of the period around Dr Wright's dismissal.
  On 18 June I wrote to Dr Crawford offering to publish his letter, or a version of it, on the web along with Dr Wright's article. I received no reply to this offer.
• Dr B Currie did not reply.
• Dr G Davidson did not reply.
• Sir Harold Dickinson on 11 June returned a copy of my letter, having written on it "no comment."
• Dr Barry Duffy did not reply.
• Mr J Gerathy did not reply.
• Dr Dennis Kerr did not reply.
• Mr W G Lawrence sent a brief note on 11 June, saying that he wrote in case an absence of reply might be taken as agreement with Dr Wright's article. He also noted that those publishing written material should be aware of defamation law.
• Emeritus Professor Gerald F. Murnaghan wrote on 11 June that he had no comment to make.
• Dr Andrew Pybus did not reply.
• Dr Andrew Refshauge, Minister for Health, wrote on 20 May acknowledging receipt of Dr Wright's manuscript. On 16 June I received a phone message from one of Dr Refshauge's staff members requesting that staff names be removed from the chronology dealing with the Mee report, but that the minister's name could stay.
• Dr Thomas A. Torda replied on 16 May saying that he did not propose to respond to Dr Wright's manuscript. He stated that various others, including Drs Davidson, Crawford, Currie, Kerr and Professor Murnaghan, should be offered an opportunity to comment.

One of the advantages of web publication is the ease with which changes can be made and material added or deleted. It is unfortunate, in my opinion, that none of the individuals listed above chose to make publicly available their own version of the events covered in Dr Wright's article. The offer for any of them or others to do so remains open. On 19 January 1998, I posted the following letter to all the individuals listed above.

Last year I sent you a draft manuscript by John Wright entitled "Putting a surgeon under: a personal story of hospital politics". A revised version of this article, taking into account comments received, can now be viewed on my web site (see http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/documents/Wright/). A printed version is enclosed for your convenience, plus a copy of my commentary on the background to the article. Also on the web site is Phillip Knightley's article "The doctor is out" from the June 1990 issue of The Independent Monthly.

Please send me any comments you may have to improve the accuracy of the story, if possible by 20 February. In addition, you have a standing invitation to write a response or commentary which I can arrange to be put on the web along with John Wright's article. Please send your contribution by e-mail or computer disc.