PUTRAJAYA: The government will pay RM9.45 million in compensation to a boy who suffered brain damage due to medical negligence at birth, after missing the deadline to contest the award in the Federal Court.
The amount, believed to be the largest awarded by a Malaysian court in a medical negligence case involving a government hospital, was confirmed when the government did not seek leave to appeal the Court of Appeal's ruling before the 30-day deadline expired on Oct 25. Lawyers Manmohan Singh Dhillon and Karthi Kanthabalan represented the boy, who filed the suit through his mother, Syazwani Drani.
According to FMT report, on Sept 25, the Court of Appeal panel, chaired by Justice Lee Swee Seng, rejected the government's appeal to lower the RM7.6 million awarded by the Penang High Court. Instead, the panel allowed the boy's cross-appeal, raising the award to RM9.45 million. The sum includes nearly RM8 million for the boy's future care, RM735,000 for special damages, and RM400,000 as general damages for pain, suffering, and loss of amenities.
The case stems from an incident in 2014 when Syazwani was admitted to Penang General Hospital at 37 weeks pregnant with irregular contractions. Despite signs of fetal distress three days later, doctors delayed the delivery, resulting in the baby suffering hypoxic brain damage due to a prolonged lack of oxygen. The boy, Thaqif Asyraf Khairol Nizam, now 10, was placed on a ventilator and discharged on Nov 14, 2014.
According to court documents, the parents were only informed of their son's irreversible brain injury six months after birth. Justice Azizan Arshad, presiding at the High Court, emphasised that the delay in care led to the child's permanent injury, prompting the substantial damages awarded.