MUAR - The Muar High Court awarded RM870,000 (S$365,000) to an 11-year-old boy for physical and mental injuries sustained during birth at a government hospital in Segamat. Judical commissioner Datuk Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid ordered that the sum be disbursed immediately.

Retired army sergeant Rosli Mohd Amin, 52, his wife Zainab Sam ,45, and their son, Ahmad Aliff Iqmal Rosli, 11, who sued the directors of the Segamat and Muar hospitals and the Government for damages, agreed to the damages awarded.

The three were represented by counsel G. Subramaniam Nair, G. Visvanathan Nair and Ebrina Zubir while deputy public prosecutor Azeezi Nordin represented senior federal counsel Zaliha Janis.

Rosli said they wanted to put the nightmare behind them and move on.

Subramaniam said the judgment was reached after eight years, adding that the liability assessment claims were recorded at the Muar High Court on July 8 last year.

He said the baby boy was found to have suffered his injuries as a result of negligence by medical staff.

Subramaniam said Zainab went to the Segamat hospital on Dec 6, 2000, to give birth. There were complications which resulted in the baby being brain damaged and suffering a paralysed arm.

However, Zainab, who went to Segamat hospital later for regular check-ups, was told the baby was normal.

On Jan 4, 2001, the baby was transferred to Muar hospital for further treatment but about one kilometre from the hospital, the tank the baby was using ran out of oxygen. They allegedly waited for about half-an-hour before being shown into the emergency ward.

-New Straits Times