Hachette acquires Grieve’s ‘Duty to Warn’
Hachette Australia has acquired world English rights for Duty to Warn, a memoir by Charlotte Grieve, who was a named defendant in the Al Muderis v Nine Network defamation trial, via a deal brokered by Rach Crawford.
‘Duty to Warn offers a rare window into the intersecting ethical and legal challenges in journalism and medicine in Australia – and the catastrophic consequences when oversight and a duty to warn are ignored,’ said the publisher.
In 2022, orthopedic surgeon Munjed Al Muderis initiated defamation proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia following a joint investigation by the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes, which included substantial reporting by Grieve.
‘Grieve’s investigation was sparked by a personal conversation with her father, an amputee who had consulted Dr Al Muderis years earlier,’ added the publisher.
The investigation resulted in reports accusing Al Muderis of ‘negligent surgical practices, downplaying surgical risks, employing high-pressure marketing tactics, and leaving several patients to suffer severe post-operative complications’.
Following ‘the third-longest defamation trial in Australian history’, the claims were eventually dismissed late last week, as Justice Wendy Abraham ruled in favour of Nine’s broadcaster, newspapers and journalists.
Beginning her career with the newspaper as a cadet in 2018, Grieve is now an investigative journalist with the Age and Sydney Morning Herald. She has received two Quill Awards, a highly commended for the Grant Hattam Quill for Investigative Journalism, and a nomination for a Walkley Mid-Year Media Prize for Coverage of Science and the Environment.
Grieve said of the acquisition, ‘This judgment is a vindication of the brave patients who had the courage to speak out and an indictment on the doctor who went to war with the people he has a duty to protect. This book wouldn’t need to be written if the powerful institutions that are supposed to protect our most vulnerable had done their jobs. I want this book to serve as a powerful call to action for decision-makers to reform Australian healthcare regulation so that profits never come before people again.’
Hachette head of narrative nonfiction and literary Vanessa Radnidge said, ‘Duty to Warn is a brilliantly told testament to the power of investigative journalism to hold institutions and individuals accountable. It highlights the determination of a gutsy young journalist who – both professionally and personally – refused to back down in her mission to give voice to those whose wellbeing had been ignored.’
Hachette plans to release Duty to Warn on 27 January 2026.
Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions
