KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 – A doctor found dead in a hotel room in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, last Friday was not a Ministry of Health (MOH) physician.
Utusan Malaysia reported yesterday Port Dickson district police chief Aidi Sham Mohamed as saying that the 37-year-old female doctor – who had worked at a children’s hospital in Petaling Jaya, Selangor – was believed to have suffered from depression, potentially related to her work.
Police reportedly found several depression-related medications in her hotel room in Pasir Panjang.
“Condolences to the deceased’s family,” MOH told the press, when asked about the case.
“We wish to state that the deceased is not a medical officer under MOH; MOH also does not have a children’s hospital in Petaling Jaya. Requests for further information can be made to the police.”
Utusan reported Aidi Sham as saying that an employee of the hotel found the doctor lying unconscious on the hotel bed.
“Preliminary investigations by the police found that no criminal elements were identified at the scene and a check from the hotel found that the victim had checked-in alone on May 19.”
“The victim was confirmed dead by a medical assistant in Pasir Panjang health clinic at 2.56 pm.”
The victim was still single and worked in a children’s hospital in Petaling Jaya, according to Utusan Malaysia. However, there is no public children’s hospital in Petaling Jaya.
Aidi Sham said the case has been classified as a sudden death and an autopsy was conducted at the forensic department of Port Dickson Hospital. Police have yet to identify the cause of death.
A 25-year-old house officer attached to Penang Hospital fell to his death from his apartment residence on April 17. The police and MOH are still investigating the incident.
The houseman’s death triggered multiple anecdotal reports of bullying of junior doctors from public hospitals, leading Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin to set up an independent task force, headed by former Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation secretary-general Siti Hamisah Tapsir, to probe the work culture in public health care facilities.
