In a momentous decision made by the Federal Court, the Malaysian government will have to pay a staggering RM9.45 million in compensation to a boy who suffered brain damage when he was born.
This comes after the government did not file an appeal against the Court of Appeal’s ruling before the 30-day deadline on Oct 25, reported FMT.
M’sian govt ordered to pay nearly RM10mil for medical negligence
According to the news portal, the government requested to have RM7.6 million awarded in damages and costs by the Penang High Court reduced, but it was rejected by the Court of Appeal on Sept 25.

Instead, the three-member bench, led by Justice Lee Swee Seng, allowed the boy’s cross-appeal and increased the amount to RM9.45 million.
This includes RM8 million for the boy’s future care, RM735,000 for special damages and RM400,000 as general damages for pain and suffering and loss of amenities of life.
The lawsuit was filed through the boy’s mother Syazwani Drani, who was represented by lawyers Manmohan Singh Dhillon and Karthi Kanthabalan.
With this ruling, it’s officially the largest amount awarded to an individual by the court in a medical negligence case involving a government hospital.

What happened
Based on the facts of the case, Syazwani was admitted to the Penang General Hospital for irregular uterine contractions on Oct 25, 2014, when she was 37 weeks pregnant.
Despite her showing clear signs of fetal distress three days after her contractions started, the doctors chose to delay the delivery.
This resulted in the baby suffering hypoxic brain damage, which is caused by the lack of oxygen to the brain for a prolonged period.

Syazwani’s baby was later placed on a ventilator and discharged from the hospital on Nov 14, 2014.
However, the parents were only informed of their child’s brain damage six months after the birth.
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