KUALA LUMPUR: A former security guard has been awarded RM1.8mil in damages for medical negligence which left him with a brain injury during treatment nearly nine years ago.
Taiping High Court judge Justice Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin awarded the damages to P. Thinnagaran, 28, after ruling that he had proven his claims.
Thinnagaran was treated at Hospital Taiping after a collision with a car while riding his motorcycle along Jalan Transkrian at 1.05pm on Jan 2, 2016.
“This court awarded general, special, and aggravated damages, and the defendants were collectively ordered to pay the plaintiff a total amount of RM1.8mil including costs of RM150,000,” she said in her judgment released on Dec 24, Bernama reported.
Thinnagaran filed the suit in 2019, and named the government, the Hospital Taiping director, and three doctors as defendants for medical negligence.
In her judgment, Justice Noor Ruwena said the permanent damage to Thinnagaran’s brain could have been avoided if the defendants had properly diagnosed, treated and monitored him more closely after he was admitted to the hospital.
She added that the injuries sustained at the hospital were clearly the result of the defendants’ breach of duty of care.
“The injuries suffered by the plaintiff as a result of the defendants’ collective breach of duty of care also consisted of mental trauma. His mental health suffered in the sense that there was cognitive impairment.
“The plaintiff was stressed and not his usual self anymore after the whole episode and had to rely on others for his personal needs,” she said.
The judge said Thinnagaran still required his mother’s care as his primary caregiver.
The defendants have appealed against the decision.
