Thursday November 5, 2009
Plaintiff in liposuction case allowed to call another witness
By LISA GOH
KUALA LUMPUR: The plaintiff in the case of diabetic Nik Rosemawati Nik Mohammed, who died two days after an abdominal liposuction five years ago, was allowed by the High Court to reopen his case and call another witness, in the midst of the defence case.
Judicial Commissioner Har-minder Singh Dhaliwal granted the plaintiff’s application yesterday to call Dr K. Mohandas of Gleneagles Medical Centre, to be a witness in the case. “My view is that to ensure a fair trial, all facts and issues must be disclosed,” he said.
“I am in agreement with the plaintiff, that the evidence by Dr Mohandas is crucial to determine the due cause of death (of Nik Rosemawati),” he ruled.
He added that to be fair to all parties, the defendant’s would also be allowed to recall their witnesses as they saw fit.
On June 21, 2004, Nik Rosemawati had gone for the liposuction procedure at the plastic surgery clinic. She suffered a cardiac arrest minutes after the procedure was completed.
She died two days later in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Gleneagles Medical Centre where she had been transferred to. At Gleneagles, she was placed under the care of a team of doctors headed by Dr Mohandas.
Nik Rosemawati’s husband Matthew Scott Oakley had filed the suit in 2006 against Dr George Varughese, the proprietor of the clinic in Bangsar, and freelance anaesthetist consultant Dr Raja Kumar Rajendram, claiming that they had been negligent while treating his wife during the liposuction.
In his statement of claim, Oakley – who is seeking RM520,431 in damages for loss and suffering – said a post-mortem revealed that his wife suffered from extensive internal haemorrhaging. The defendants denied they were negligent.
Oakley’s counsel Renu Zecha-riah had earlier submitted that she was only calling for Dr Mohandas now, during the defence case, as the defendants had repeatedly placed responsibility on him as the doctor who headed the medical team caring for Nik Rosemawati while she was in the hospital.
When put to him, Dr Raja Kumar who took the stand yesterday, denied he had been negligent by not meeting Dr Mohandas personally when handing the patient who had just had a cardiac arrest, over to the hospital.
“I had already spoken to him over the phone earlier and I was confident that all the information had been passed on to him,” he said.
The hearing continues today.
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