Sydney doctor Joseph Ajaka issues legal threat to Nine

Sydney doctor Joseph Ajaka has issued a legal concerns notice to Nine Entertainment over the media company’s expose into the cosmetic surgery industry.

Dr Joseph Ajaka in his surgery in Double Bay, Sydney

Sydney doctor Joseph Ajaka has issued a legal concerns notice to Nine Entertainment over the media company’s widely ­pro­moted expose into the cosmetic surgery industry, which he says defamed him.

Dr Ajaka claims his character was “gravely injured” by the on-air promotion for the 60 Minutes investigation, the program itself (which aired last Thursday), and subsequent newspaper articles in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age — all of which, he says, caused him substantial hurt, embarrassment and loss.

The probe, led by journalists Adele Ferguson and Joel Tozer, alleged the country’s biggest cosmetic procedures group, Cosmos Clinics, founded by Dr Ajaka, engaged in troubling practices including botched outcomes, poor after-care and breaches of social media guidelines.

Dr Ajaka has indicated he will launch defamation action against the media company, its subsidiaries and the journalists involved in the investigation, unless all of the articles relating to the investi­gation are removed from the digital platforms of the TV network and the newspaper’s websites.

Dr Ajaka is also seeking an apology from Nine Entertainment; he has not sought damages.

A draft of his statement of claim, seen by The Australian, sets out 267 defamatory imputations alleged to be have been carried by the 60 Minutes program, the Herald and The Age. It also shows Dr Ajaka making 57 separate allegations of improper conduct by Ferguson.

A spokesperson for Nine said it stands by the story.

Dr Ajaka declined to comment when contacted.