KUALA LUMPUR: The post-mortem examination of naval cadet officer J. Soosaimanicckam, who died while on training in 2018, was performed by a medical officer rather than a trained forensic pathologist, according to a court hearing a suit filed by the deceased’s family.
Witness Datuk Seri Dr Bhupinder Singh said it was not appropriate for a medical officer to conduct the post-mortem.
“A lot of things mentioned in the post-mortem report have not been looked into to come to a proper diagnosis.
“In an institutional death like this, especially involving government agencies, the post-mortem should have been conducted by a trained forensic pathologist, especially in this case where the cause of death was not obvious,” he added when testifying in the Sessions Court yesterday.
The senior forensic pathologist added that it was not appropriate to single out pulmonary oedema as the cause of death, as it was just a finding in the particular case.
“What led to the pulmonary oedema is what we are interested in,” he said.
Dr Bhupinder is the plaintiff’s final witness to take the stand in a negligence lawsuit filed by Soosaimanicckam’s father, S. Joseph, against 11 Navy officers, the Navy commander, Malaysian Armed Forces Council, the Defence Minister and the Malaysian government.
Dr Bhupinder said Soosaimanicckam, who died after completing his daily physical training, could have survived if he had received treatment early.
He said that based on available history, Soosaimanicckam had complained about difficulty breathing and muscle aches.
He said several symptoms were suggestive that the deceased probably had leptospirosis right from the beginning.
“In my opinion, if the deceased had been referred to a medical institution early, recovery would have been possible,” he said here on Tuesday.
“Most people recover in a few days or weeks. Patients with severe symptoms need to be treated in a hospital,” he said in his witness statement.
Based on his analysis of the post-mortem report, Dr Bhupinder said the cause of death was multi-organ failure with disseminated intravascular coagulation due to leptospirosis.
This differs from the Ipoh High Court’s findings of pulmonary oedema caused by leptospirosis and the Sessions Court’s (which sat as a Coroner’s Court) findings of pulmonary oedema.
On Monday, the Ipoh High Court made the findings before setting aside the coroner’s open verdict and revised it to homicide.
Last year, the Coroner’s Court delivered an open verdict during the inquest into the cadet officer’s death.
Coroner Ainul Shahrin Mohamad determined that the cause of Soosaimanicckam’s death, which occurred during cadet training at KD Sultan Idris, was pulmonary oedema.
Soosaimanicckam, a graduate cadet officer, was pronounced dead at the Armed Forces Hospital in Lumut on May 19, 2018.
The victim’s family filed the lawsuit on May 19, 2021, alleging the defendants’ negligence in failing to provide emergency treatment when the victim collapsed on the day of the incident and in failing to monitor his well-being and health during training sessions.
The plaintiff is seeking, among others, general damages, aggravated damages, and exemplary damages.
The hearing before Sessions judge Idah Ismail continues tomorrow.
