KLANG, Jan 10 — Two obstetric specialists who left a critically bleeding patient, who later died, to “have a drink” have been held accountable, with the High Court in Klang ordering the maternity centre to pay RM6 million to the deceased’s family.

Judge Norliza Othman ruled that Dr M Shanmugam, Dr A Ravi, and nurses Izaniey Nataliah Jukimin, Nur Aida Mat Isa, and Nessy Yasah were guilty of medical negligence, leading to the patient’s death during treatment, according to a report published in Sinar Harian on Thursday.

In the judgment uploaded to the judicial system on Thursday (January 9), Norliza stated that M Punita, who was delivering her second child, began experiencing heavy bleeding after her placenta was removed.

Despite assurances that the patient was stable, the two doctors left the delivery room and placed her under the care of three unregistered nurses.

Although the nurses were not certified by the Ministry of Health, they were assigned to monitor the patient’s condition.

“However, the deceased’s mother discovered that her daughter was bleeding heavily, and the nurses attempted to stop the bleeding using cotton.

“The patient was later transferred to Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Klang (HTAR) in critical condition.

“Despite undergoing emergency surgery and a blood transfusion, Punita passed away due to severe blood loss and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIVC),” she said.

The judge noted that while the doctors were highly experienced in obstetrics, they failed to address common complications associated with childbirth, such as eclampsia and placenta-related issues that can lead to postpartum haemorrhage (PPH).

She criticised the doctors for neglecting the patient’s condition.

“This tragic incident could have been avoided had the two doctors acted swiftly by transferring her to HTAR and closely monitoring her condition instead of leaving her in the care of nurses while Dr Ravi went out for a drink.

“This level of negligence is unforgivable as it contributed to the death of a healthy mother,” she remarked.

The court awarded RM5,993,936 in damages to the deceased’s family.

The sum includes RM500,000 for the deceased’s pain and suffering, RM1 million for each of her two children, and RM300,000 for each of her parents.

Additionally, RM1.5 million in aggravated damages was imposed on Dr Ravi, RM700,000 on Dr Shanmugam, and RM100,000 in punitive damages on the clinic.

On January 9, 2019, Punita, aged 36 at the time, died hours after giving birth at the Shan Maternity and Obstetrics Centre, owned by Dr Shanmugam, due to PPH.

The deceased’s family was represented by lawyer K Renuka from the firm V Samy Renu & Co.