Two senior doctors were ordered by the Klang High Court to pay a whopping RM5.9mil to the family of a woman who bled to death due to medical negligence.
NST reported that the victim’s family had filed a lawsuit against Dr. M. Shanmugam, Dr. A. Ravi, and three nurses over the tragedy which occurred on Jan 9, 2019.
M’sian doctors leave to have a drink while patient bleeds to death
According to the English daily, the victim, M. Punita, began experiencing heavy bleeding after her placenta was removed while giving birth to her second child at Shan Maternity and Birthing Centre, which is owned by Dr Shanmugam.
While Punita was bleeding away, Dr Ravi left the clinic to get a drink while Dr Shanmugam was later seen leaving the delivery room.
Thus, Punita was left under the care of three nurses who were instructed to monitor her condition despite not being registered with the Ministry of Health (MOH) or having the necessary qualifications.
When Punita’s mother entered the delivery room, she was met with the sight of her daughter bleeding non-stop as the nurses tried to stem the bleeding with cotton. Neither Dr Ravi nor Dr Shanmugam were present at the time.
Punita was later rushed to the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR) in Klang but eventually died from postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) despite an emergency surgery and transfusions.
Ordered to pay RM5.9mil compensation
In her ruling, Judge Norliza Othman said Shan Clinic didn’t possess basic supplies such as drugs to control uterine bleeding and equipment to manage postpartum complications.
She noted that both Dr Ravi and Dr Shanmugam had failed to spring into action in saving Punita’s life, which including delaying her transfer to a hospital that was capable of handling such emergencies.
The judge also had strong words for the doctors, slamming them for their  “reckless disregard” despite their many years of obstetrics experience.
This tragic event could have been prevented had both doctors taken swift action by sending the mother to HTAR and closely monitoring her condition, instead of leaving her in the care of nurses while Dr Ravi went out for a drink.
“This level of neglect is inexcusable and directly contributed to the untimely death of a healthy mother,” she said.
As a result, both doctors were ordered to pay a total of RM5,993,936 in damages to Punita’s family, which included the following:
- RM500,000 for the pain and suffering of the deceased
- RM1 million each for the deceased’s two children
- RM300,000 each for her parents
- RM1.5 million in aggravated damages against Dr Ravi
- RM700,000 in aggravated damages against Dr Shanmugam and his clinic
- RM100,000 in punitive damages
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