Crime author Tara Moss complained to Sydney GP eight times, court told

Crime author Tara Moss will be seeking an “extremely large claim” in damages, the court heard.

Model turned novelist Tara Moss claims she complained of pelvic pain eight times to a GP, who she is suing for allegedly failing to properly investigate an injury to her hip, a court has heard.
Moss’ barrister Richard Cheney SC told the Supreme Court on Tuesday Moss would be seeking an “extremely large claim” in damages.

He told the court she was unable to undertake modelling or public speaking, and was receiving domestic assistance.

The civil case brought by Moss, who now uses a cane to walk, concerns hip pain she claims to have developed after undergoing IVF egg retrieval surgery in early 2016.

Moss, 47, claims she complained of the pain to Dr Chris Coghill on eight occasions between February 2016 and September 2017, the Supreme Court heard on Monday.

At the time Dr Coghill was her GP at the Upper Mountains Medical Practice.

Tara Moss. Picture: Berndt Sellheim

Moss’s personalised wheelchair. Picture: Instagram

The defence disputed how many times the complaints were raised with Dr Coghil, who wrote in his notes that Moss had complained of pelvic pain just once, the court heard.

The defence also claims the tear in Moss’ hip was not present at the time she consulted with Dr Coghill.

And in his defence Dr Coghill said: “If any damages were suffered by the plaintiff as alleged (which is denied) they were caused or contributed to by the first plaintiff‘s own negligence.“

Moss said in her Statement of Claim that if she had been referred for diagnostic imaging in a timely manner, she would have avoided permanent injury.

Defence barrister Jackie Sandford told The Supreme Court, in a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday that “there is a very significant factual dispute as to what transpired at the relevant consultations”.

But both parties agreed Dr Coghill did not refer Moss for an MRI.

The court heard Moss was seeking to provide expert evidence from a third GP, and already had reports from 12 experts.

The defence is relying on 11 experts.

Tara Moss. Picture: Instagram

Author Tara Moss worked as a model before becoming a successful author. Picture: @taramossauthor/Instagram

Ms Sandford told the court Moss’s legal team should not be allowed to rely on a “tsunami” of “overlapping” reports from medical experts.

“This is simply not consistent with the objective of achieving a quick, just and cheap disposition of proceedings,” she told the court.

But Moss’s Barrister Richard Cheney SC told the court the medical issues in this case were “extremely complex” and all the medical experts of different disciplines were required.

Hon Justice Joanne Harrison reserved her judgment on whether she would allow the extra GP be relied on by Moss.

A trial date has not yet been set.