KUCHING: A woman from Bau filed a suit against a medical officer (MO) for negligence when performing bilateral tubal ligation (BTL) on her.
Lee Siew Lan, 39, from Kampung Plaman Kaman, Krokong named Dr Ahmad Hafiz Murad, doctor from Bau Hospital as well as the director and government of Malaysia as the first, second and third respondent respectively.
Lee was represented by defence counsel William Ding.
According to the statement of claim, after giving birth to her fifth child on July 31, 2011, the plaintiff was advised by the first respondent (MO) to undergo the BTL procedure to stop future pregnancies.
Three months later on Nov 1, the ligation was performed by the first defendant but during the operation, he cut her urinary bladder which caused a tear on the anterior wall.
The patient had to be referred to Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) for surgery to repair the bladder on the same day.
There she was treated by Obstetric and Gynaecology (O&G) specialist.
During admission at SGH, she was given counselling by the MO and specialist in the gynae ward to help get over the traumatic experience.
The treatment inconvenienced Lee as she had to be put on continuous bladder catherization (CBC) – her urine collected in a bag for two weeks even when discharged on Nov 3.
After that, the plaintiff had to attend a follow-up clinic and undergo a cystogram.
In her claim, she said the first defendant had not informed her of the risk of injuring her bladder.
Furthermore the doctor did not refer her to a specialist before performing the BTL; failed to observe the established surgical procedure; and failed to take reasonable care to avoid cutting or causing tearing of the anterior wall of the bladder.
The plaintiff is seeking special and general damages to be assessed by the Court.