A 22-year-old man receives RM7.4 million in damages after medical negligence at a government hospital resulted in the amputation of his left hand and right leg.
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has awarded RM7.4 million in damages to a youth for medical negligence that led to the amputation of his left hand and right leg.
Judge Datuk Su Tiang Joo granted 22-year-old K. Vimal Raj RM6.4 million, with the bulk allocated for purchasing robotic arms and a prosthetic leg.
The court also awarded RM213,000 for pain and suffering resulting from the amputations Vimal underwent.
Additionally, RM180,000 was granted for home care and RM20,000 in aggravated damages.
Vimal and his father J. Krishnasamy, 51, were awarded RM200,000 in legal costs.
However, Justice Su disallowed Krishnasamy’s claim for loss of earnings due to lack of documentary evidence.
The plaintiffs filed their suit in 2020 through Messrs AJ Ariffin Yeo & Harpal, naming the Health Ministry, a government hospital, 12 doctors and the Government of Malaysia as defendants.
On July 22, 2024, both parties entered into a consent judgment on liability, admitted by the government as the sixth defendant.
The claim against all other defendants was subsequently discontinued.
According to the statement of claim, Vimal was a healthy 15-year-old with no chronic illnesses when his father took him to a government hospital’s Emergency Department on January 14, 2019.
He was suffering from a severe scrotal skin infection and was diagnosed with chronic balanitis, a treatable condition common among uncircumcised males.
On January 23, 2019, Vimal’s condition deteriorated and he was transferred to the intensive care unit while still unconscious.
While his son was in the ICU, Krishnasamy noticed that Vimal’s toes and fingers had turned blue-black and immediately informed medical officers.
No explanation was provided for the discolouration at that time.
Due to severe black discolouration rendering both limbs non-functional from cell death, medical officers informed the father that amputation was necessary to save his son’s life.
Vimal’s left hand and right leg above the knee were subsequently amputated.
The plaintiffs argued that the hospital failed to make a proper diagnosis of Vimal’s condition, leading to the limb amputations.
The family was represented by lawyers Brijnandan Singh Bhar, Datin Harwinder Kaur, Dhanesh Subramaniam Nair, Nathasha Bhar, Jasween Kaur, Keshvinder Kaur and R. Vinushini.
Federal Counsel Siti Asmath Che Man appeared for the government. – Bernama
