Ministry probes botched circumcision

KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry has launched a probe to find out the circumstances behind the botched circumcision involving a 10-year-old boy at a clinic in Taman Cheras Utama.

Ministry director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said a police report had been lodged over the matter.

“The ministry is also conducting its own investigations,” he said yesterday.

It was reported that a routine circumcision for the boy went horribly wrong when his penis was severed during a laser-based procedure at the clinic on Dec 20.

Soon after the procedure, the doctor told the father that he had accidentally cut off the front of his son’s penis.

The boy was rushed to the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Hospital, which then referred him to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) for surgery to have the penis reattached.

It is learnt that the surgery was successful.

The father lodged a police report at HKL upon advice from a doctor there.

The clinic’s doctor lodged a police report as well, admitting that an accident had occurred during the procedure.

Asked whether the clinic had been ordered to close or action had been taken against the doctor, Dr Noor Hisham said no one should speculate on the matter as the investigations are still ongoing.

Sources revealed that the clinic had been operating since 2006 but was not registered with the ministry.

“The clinic’s administration had filed an application to be registered online, but it never followed up on its application or completed the process,” the sources said.