Teen Boy Sues Govt Hospital Over Botched Circumcision

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Lawyer Zainuddin Abu Bakar (left), representing a boy in his failed circumcision suit, explains the case’s updates at the High Court registrar.KUALA LUMPUR: A teenager is suing the medical staff and doctors at a government hospital over a botched circumcision procedure eight years ago
The 18-year-old said a medical assistant at Hospital Lipis on Dec 13, 2010 had failed to adhere to the standard procedure
As a result, he said his penis head was cut off during the procedure, when the assistant should only have cut off its foreskin
“A large amount of blood flowed from the penis,” the boy said in his lawsuit, adding the assistant had only covered the penis with a white cloth
The boy said the medical assistant and medical officer knew about the failed procedure but did not inform his family
He said they also took a long time to send him to a specialist
“The victim was only operated at 8.15pm on Dec 13, 2010 at Hospital Selayang to reattach the penis head,” he said, claiming the medical doctor had tried to hide the problem in her medical report
The boy’s mother only found out about the problem after one month, but the urologist told her that the penis head will “grow back” upon reaching puberty
“There was no truth to it because there was no growth at all throughout the victim’s teenage years,” the lawsuit said
The boy is seeking RM108,356 for special damages and also general damages
In their defence, the medical staff denied they were negligent
The boy’s lawyer Mohamad Zainuddin Abu Bakar said that the medical assistant had previously sought to strike out the suit but later withdrew his bid and opted to contest the suit
“However to our surprise, the doctors and government had decided to strike out our suit last week, after the deadline given by the court to them on filing any related application had lapsed,” he said
The High Court set Dec 7 for mention, as the medical assistant wanted to file his response to the defence’s bid to annul the suit. - FMT

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