RM20,100 for boy's death

09 July, 2007

KLANG: It was meant to be a surgery for an urinary tract infection but it proved fatal for three-year-old Nui Jia Yuan. After a circumcision in 2003, the boy failed to regain consciousness and died.

The Sessions Court yesterday awarded more than RM20,100 to the boy’s family but the parents were not contented.

"This money will not bring my son back.

"I want the police to continue investigations into this case," said the mother Lim Mei Leng, 33.

Lim and her husband, Nui Lian Seng, 37, filed a civil suit against Kuben Clinic and Surgery the same year and the defendant, Dr M. Kubendran, admitted liability on April 23 this year.

Judge Albaishan Abdul Manan awarded the family RM10,000 for bereavement, RM8,800 for funeral expenses and RM1,300 for laboratory report fees.

The defendant was also ordered to cover the legal costs incurred by the family from the time of the incident.

Dr Kubendran and his lawyer, however, were not present in court.

Albaishan rejected the family’s claim for general damages citing the fact that the boy was young and not employed at the time of death.

According to the statement of claim, Jia Yuan had a urinary tract infection and upon doctor’s advice, the boy was taken to the clinic to undergo circumcision.

He was taken to the defendant’s clinic on March 28, 2003, and the surgery took place at 1pm.

A post-mortem report showed that Jia Yuan, who was healthy at the time of surgery, failed to regain consciousness after the circumcision.

Lim then contacted the doctor and asked if there was anything wrong with her son but she was told that he would wake up in the next four hours.

Three hours later, Jia Yuan died and Lim lodged a police report three days later.

"I want further action to be taken against them. They have robbed us of our little boy," Lim told reporters outside the courtroom.

Lim, a quality control supervisor, and her husband, a welder, have three other children. They were represented by counsel Lam Wai Tze.

© Copyright 2007 The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad. All rights reserved.