Friday November 6, 2009
Vital witness fails to turn up
KUALA LUMPUR: Matthew Scott Oakley, the plaintiff in the case of diabetic Nik Rosemawati Nik Mohammed who died two days after an abdominal liposuction five years ago, was forced to close his case after a crucial witness did not appear at the High Court despite being subpoenaed.
Oakley, who was granted leave on Wednesday to reopen his case to call the witness in the midst of the defence case, faced a setback after Dr K. Mohandas of Gleneagles Medical Centre, who was served the subpoena at 10.20am yesterday, failed to turn up to give his testimony.
However, Dr Mohandas, who was represented by his counsel M. Puravelan, offered his apologies to the court for his absence.
“My client apologises for not being present. He means no disrespect, but he was only subpoenaed this morning, and he has surgeries scheduled for the afternoon. He is unable to obtain the services of another anaesthetist to replace him.
“He has also requested that the court be fair to him in allowing him to look at the case documents for him to understand the circumstances of the case,” Puravelan said, adding that his client would be able to be present next Wednesday.
Oakley’s counsel Renu Zechariah then applied for a one-day adjournment but it was dismissed after Judicial Commissioner Harminder Singh Dhaliwal found no merits to her application.
On June 21, 2004, Nik Rosemawati went for a liposuction at a plastic surgery clinic. She suffered a cardiac arrest minutes after the procedure was completed.
She died two days later at the intensive care unit 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.
Oakley, Nik Rosemawati’s husband, 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 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 have denied they were negligent.
The court ordered all parties to submit their written submissions by Nov 16 and fixed Nov 19 for decision.
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