The Court of Appeal upheld a ruling against an ophthalmologist for negligence, ordering him to pay RM1.28 million to a mechanic who lost his left eye.
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has dismissed an ophthalmologist’s final bid to overturn a ruling that found him liable for medical negligence.
The court ordered Dr Lee Mun Toong to pay mechanic T Loganathan RM1.28 million in damages for the permanent loss of sight in his left eye.
A three-member bench led by Justice Datuk Dr Choo Kah Sing unanimously found the appeal to be without merit.
Justice Dr Choo stated the High Court had made no error in law or fact by accepting Loganathan’s narrative.
“The sum awarded is not excessively high nor manifestly low,” he said, adding there was no grounds for the appellate court to interfere.
The court also ordered Dr Lee to pay RM30,000 in legal costs to Loganathan.
The case stemmed from an injury Loganathan sustained at work on July 6, 2011.
A hard object struck his left eye while he was using a hammer to open an engine compressor part.
He was examined by Dr Lee, who performed surgery on the eyelid but allegedly failed to diagnose an intraocular foreign body.
Dr Lee assured Loganathan the eye would heal completely and that no foreign object was present.
Loganathan continued to suffer severe pain and blurred vision days after the surgery.
A CT scan arranged later revealed a metal foreign body lodged in the injured eye.
Loganathan sought further treatment at Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh, where an infection was discovered.
He was admitted to Selayang Hospital on July 12, 2011, for surgery to remove the object.
Despite the procedure, he developed glaucoma and permanently lost vision in his left eye.
In his defence, Dr Lee claimed he ordered a CT scan on July 8, 2011, which Loganathan refused due to headaches.
The High Court in July 2023 ruled that Loganathan had established medical negligence against the doctor.
Judge Datuk Bhupindar Singh found Dr Lee failed to order a timely CT scan that could have detected the object earlier.
He also ruled that Dr Lee fraudulently made post-dated entries in medical records regarding the scan.
This failure resulted in the object remaining, causing infection and ultimately leading to glaucoma and vision loss.
The awarded damages included RM200,000 in general damages and RM500,000 in aggravated damages.
Other components covered future medical treatment, psychiatric illness, and loss of income.
At the Court of Appeal, Loganathan’s lawyer argued the CT scan was only ordered on the sixth day post-injury.
By that time, the eye was severely infected, complicating the subsequent surgery.
Lawyers Fazleeza Azli and Goh Lee Ding represented Dr Lee in the proceedings.
