TIMBER company Gunns Limited has failed in its bid for damages against Hobart doctor Frank Nicklason over claims he made about legionella and fugal organisms in woodchip piles near Burnie, but it did get an apology.
The company had originally been seeking $250,000 in damages for defamation but the matter was settled at a directions hearing in the Victorian Supreme Court today.
Gunns chairman John Gay said in a media statement today that he welcomed the apology.
"In 2002 Dr Nicklason claimed in the media that the company's woodchip piles at the Burnie wharf would almost certainly have legionella and fungal organisms which can be blown across the town.
"Dr Nicklason today gave a written apology to the company for making the claims, as part of a settlement of a legal action brought against him by the company," the statement said.
Mr Gay said the apology should reassure Tasmanians following years of misinformation about health risks from woodchips.
Dr Nicklason said he had not agreed to pay any money to Gunns for damages or any of their legal cost but had agreed to send a letter to Gunns in relation to the comments.
Dr Nicklason said the letter he sent to Gunns apologised for making the statement in relation to health risks associated with the woodchip piles only because he accepted he should have approached the company with his concerns directly before going public.
"The public health concerns which motivated my action then, remain a concern for me," Dr Nicklason said.
"I fail to see how this can provide reassurance as Gunns seem to be claiming. This issue requires further investigation in my view. I also emphatically reject the implication that I was spreading misinformation," Dr Nicklason said.
Gunns said his apology states: "I apologise to Gunns for publishing that statement. I accept that Gunns has subsequently obtained independent expert reports which did not find legionella in samples from the stockpiles of woodchips in Burnie and concluded that there was no available data worldwide to implicate woodchips as a microbial health risk."
Dr Nicklason said in his media statement that Gunns had taken action against him in December, 2004, when he and 19 other people were sued in what has become know as the Gunns20 case.
Gunns had been seeking $250,000 in damages plus costs. The Victorian Supreme Court ordered the case to mediation in August.
Dr Nicklason is a staff general and geriatric specialist physician at the Royal Hobart Hospital.
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