KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — The Federal Court’s landmark ruling in Siow Ching Yee is expected to result in more defensive medicine practices and increase the overall cost of health care that will be borne by patients, insurers, and corporations.
Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) president Dr Kuljit Singh said that while private hospitals fully agree to payments compensating patients who have been victims of proven malpractice, they are concerned whether the sum is reasonable or inflated, and if the plaintiff will receive the full amount decided by the court.
“Realistic compensation to the unfortunate patient should be achieved without significantly raising the already expensive cost of health care,” Dr Kuljit said in his welcoming address at the 30th APHM International Healthcare Conference and Exhibition yesterday.
Dr Kuljit cited Singapore courts’ approach of “actively encouraging mediation” before accepting a case.
“Thus, we implore the Ministry of Health (MOH) to think about making it a requirement after consulting with pertinent national legal policy stakeholders.”
In a landmark verdict last February, the apex court made a 4-1 majority decision to hold Columbia Asia Sdn Bhd, the owner and manager of Columbia Asia Hospital – Puchong, liable for the negligence of Siow Ching Yee. Siow, a patient, suffered permanent mental and physical disabilities from severe brain damage after emergency treatment in 2010 when he was 35 years old.
The Federal Court rejected Columbia Asia’s defence that the doctors who treated Siow – a consultant ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgeon and a consultant anaesthetist – were “independent contractors” under contracts for services in its Selangor hospital.
Siow was awarded RM4.5 million in damages, the total of which is liable to be paid by both the private hospital and the anaesthetist who treated Siow.
In a separate case, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur awarded more than RM8 million to a woman and her four-year-old daughter, who suffered severe and irreversible brain damage due to medical negligence during the child’s birth at Selayang Hospital. This is believed to be one of the highest damages awarded by Malaysian courts in a medical negligence case.
The woman, who had a high-risk obstetric history, and her daughter filed a suit in November 2020 against the Malaysian government and the medical officers and staff of Selayang Hospital for medical negligence.
The claim against the medical officers and staff of the government hospital was later withdrawn after the Malaysian government admitted liability.
The woman (second plaintiff) was originally scheduled for an emergency lower section caesarean on March 18, 2019, to deliver her daughter (first plaintiff). However, at 8pm on March 17, the foetus showed signs of bradycardia.
Despite this, the decision for an emergency caesarean was delayed until 9.20pm, and further delays led to the first plaintiff’s delivery at 10.14pm.
As a result of these delays, the first plaintiff suffered spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy secondary to hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, with a developmental milestone of less than three months old.
Now four years old, the first plaintiff has not developed normally and requires constant care for feeding, bathing, cleaning, and managing saliva; has weak muscles and cannot sit or stand unaided; is unable to communicate or comprehend her surroundings; requires physiotherapy and sometimes suffers from dystonia, a neurological movement disorder; and has at least 20 medical appointments yearly.
