RM735,596 awarded in suit
> Ex-prosecution head wins case against govt for negligence which led to wife’s death
KUALA LUMPUR: Former head of prosecution in the AttorneyGeneral’s Chambers (AGC) Datuk Stanley Isaacs ( pix) was awarded RM735,596 in damages by the High Court in his suit against the government for negligence which led to his wife’s death.
Isaacs filed the suit on May 31, 2016 and named the government and nine doctors and three staff nurses at Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) as defendants after his wife Dr Suzanne Thomas, 62, a former head of the HKL Outpatient Department, died at the hospital on Dec 25, 2014.
Judicial Commissioner Datuk Aliza Sulaiman awarded RM500,000 in aggravated damages, and RM140,000 in general damages where RM100,000 was for pain and suffering and loss of amenities of life, and RM30,000 was for maintenance of Thomas’ mother and RM10,000 for statutory bereavement.
She also awarded RM95,596.17 in special damages which included funeral and prayer expenses of RM52,528, and expenses for memorial service of RM4,068,17.
“My family and I are pleased and relieved that the court proceedings have been concluded. I am grateful to the court for the award of damages even though I did not commence this action against the hospital and the doctors concerned for the money. My loss, and equally that of her family, is incompensatable with money. I am grateful to the government for not contesting my suit on liability and thus saved me the pain of proving the liabilty of the doctors concerned,” Isaacs told reporters outside the courtroom.
He added what was greatly troubling was that the hospital, where his wife had served for a long time as a doctor, had failed to handle her condition with the most obvious urgency and action that was required during admission.
“The intention of this action was to send a message to the hospital concerned and to hospitals and doctors generally that every life in their hands deserves their unstinting professionalism.”
In April, senior federal counsel Nurhafizza Azizan, who acted for the 13 defendants, confirmed that they would not contest the matter.