Concussion, Defamation and the Ringside Doctor.

Abstract

Ringside doctors play a vital public health role in protecting fighters from the deleterious effects of concussive and other injuries which are reasonably foreseeable from the contests in which they engage. This column reviews a landmark action for defamation taken by a ringside doctor against a media organisation that published a critique of his performance of his role in a high-profile boxing bout in Sydney, Australia. It reviews the judgment of McCallum J in O'Neill v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd (No 2) [2019] NSWSC 655 (O'Neill) and reflects on the broader significance of the decision for the role played by ringside doctors while boxing and other martial arts contests continue to b..