00:00The Alostar High Court has ruled that expert evidence is required in medical negligence cases.
00:07Justice Johan Lee said judges are not qualified to decide on their own
00:11whether a doctor has met the required professional standards.
00:15He made the remarks while dismissing a lawsuit filed on behalf of a boy
00:20who suffered complications following a circumcision at a private clinic in 2019.
00:25Johan said the plaintiff's failure to call an independent medical expert
00:29was a fatal flaw in the case.
00:31He said it left the court with no basis to determine the standard of care,
00:36whether it was breached and whether that resulted in the injuries complained of.
00:40He rejected the father's reliance on res ipsa locutor,
00:44saying a poor medical outcome does not automatically establish negligence.
00:50Johan also found that the doctor had repeatedly advised the father to seek hospital treatment.
00:55He ruled that a significant delay in following that advice
00:59had broken the chain of causation between the doctor's conduct and the child's injuries.
01:04The plaintiff failed in his suit and was ordered to pay the defendants RM20,000 in costs.
01:12Amardeep Gill, FMT.
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