28yo M’sian Awarded RM1.8 Mil After Taiping Hospital’s Negligence Causes Him to Suffer Brain Damage

A former security guard has been awarded RM1.8 million in damages after suffering a brain injury due to medical negligence while seeking treatment following involvement in a motorcycle accident 8 years ago.

According to a report by Berita Harian, 28-year-old P Thinnagaran filed the suit at the Taiping High Court by naming the Government, the Director of the Taiping Hospital and 3 doctors as defendants.

Judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin, in her judgment, said that the court allowed most of Thinnagaran’s claims against the defendants as the plaintiff had successfully proven his case.

Here’s what happened

Thinnagaran initially suffered injuries when the motorcycle he was riding was involved in an accident with a car on Jalan Transkrian on January 2, 2016.

Following this, he was taken to the Taiping Hospital, where steps were taken to prevent Fat Embolism Syndrome (FES), which was caused by several broken bones from the accident.

FES is a life-threatening condition in which small fat particles from broken bones or injuries enter the bloodstream, causing breathing problems, confusion and small red spots on the skin.

His condition was allegedly not monitored between 2am and 6:50am on January 3, 2016, despite being at high risk of suffering from FES. It was then confirmed that he had suffered from FES at 7am.

This image is for illustration purposes only.

Doctors then decided to stabilise Thinnagaran’s condition before proceeding with surgery at 8pm on the same day. However, an MRI scan found that he had suffered brain damage due to a lack of oxygen and blood flow.

“The plaintiff’s brain suffered severe oxygen deprivation for over 12 hours while the defendants waited to stabilise him. The outcome unfortunately caused permanent brain damage to the plaintiff’s brain, which is why the plaintiff is now partially paraplegic,”

“The defendants’ collective inadequate monitoring, as well as failure to perform surgery on the plaintiff within 24 hours of the accident, aggravated the FES and caused the plaintiff to be in his current condition,”.

“From the totality of the evidence and testimony before me, it is clear that the nurses did not adequately monitor the plaintiff and did not identify the FES even though it was happening right in front of their eyes,” Judge Noor Rowena said.

She went on to explain that the doctors had failed in their respective roles in treating and diagnosing the plaintiff for FES and subsequently in the intubation required to save his life.

“The injuries suffered by the plaintiff were the result of the defendants’ collective breach of duty of care, including mental trauma. His mental health was affected in the sense that he had cognitive impairment. The plaintiff was depressed and was no longer his usual self after the entire episode and had to rely on others for his personal needs,” she added.

The defendants have since filed a notice of appeal against this decision.

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