The family of deceased teenager G Tinasha claim
that her suffering was prolonged as doctors purposely kept her on life
support despite knowing she was brain dead.
The 14-year-old passed away in Petaling Jaya's Assunta Hospital on Nov 21 last year after being admitted on Nov 16 for a fever.
Her death was shrouded in controversy with the family alleging medical staff were negligent in preventing her death and then delaying in confirming her death.
They said after pressing several months for the detailed medical report, they finally received it three weeks ago and were shocked to learn the brain death test was done thrice on Tinasha, although the Malaysian Medical Council’s (MMC) guideline calls for only two.
It states that a person should be declared brain dead after two tests done for ‘Brain Death Certification’ with the second six hours after the first.
The guideline also states that a “person certified to be brain dead is dead” and “the non-recognition either through ignorance or choice” can be construed as unethical.
“If
the law states that after the second test she should be declared dead,
why didn’t they do so? It is unfair to us to keep her alive even when
she was gone,” said Tinasha’s uncle, I Ramesh.
"We believe the doctors could have prolonged certifying her death," he added.
Tinasha’s mother, I Uthayabavani (left), said the family had no idea the second and third tests were administered until they received the medical reports.
She and Ramesh were speaking at a press conference today at their home in Petaling Jaya.
She added the family has already lodged a complaint with the Private Practice Control Unit (CKAPS) under the Health Ministry and also the MMC.
The MMC has fixed a hearing on Tinasha’s case for April 16 to probe the matter further.
Up in arms
Tinasha’s family are also up in arms over not having received their daughter’s post-mortem certificate despite it being almost four months since her death.
“Every time we ask, they tell us it is further delayed by several weeks. We have already gone there a couple of times already,” Ramesh told reporters.
Meanwhile, the family also alleged that the hospital bill of over RM50,000 charged to the girl’s insurance company contained extra charges for procedures and drugs that were not administered.
“Some
of the medicines that we were being charged were not even given by the
doctors to her. The same goes for some of the procedures we saw in the
itemised bill,” alleged Uthayabavani who claimed she was with Tinasha (right) the whole time during the ordeal.
They said they found discrepancies in the types of medicines that was given to her and the amount for with they were charged as compared to prices outside.
They also alleged for some of the procedures billed, they had no recollection of the doctors administering them,adding when they consulted their own doctors, they were told they were unnecessary.
The family has already lodged a formal complaint with the insurance company to investigate the discrepancies and were told the process would take a month to complete.
CEO denies accusations
When asked if the family was going to pursue the issue and sue the hospital, the family said a legal suit would only be the last resort.
“We are not in it for the money [...] we want to utilise available avenues first for our case to be heard. Suing will not get the case anywhere.
“Let our daughter’s death be a sacrifice so that it can shed light on the various issues surrounding it so that no other family has to go through it,” said a grieving Uthayabavani.
Assunta Hospital chief executive officer Peter Leong when contacted today, denied the accusations of negligence and instead encouraged the family to go through proper channels if they were unhappy with the treatment Tinasha received.
“If they do have any such allegations, they can lodge a complaint and let the Health Ministry or MMC investigate,” he said.
The 14-year-old passed away in Petaling Jaya's Assunta Hospital on Nov 21 last year after being admitted on Nov 16 for a fever.
Her death was shrouded in controversy with the family alleging medical staff were negligent in preventing her death and then delaying in confirming her death.
They said after pressing several months for the detailed medical report, they finally received it three weeks ago and were shocked to learn the brain death test was done thrice on Tinasha, although the Malaysian Medical Council’s (MMC) guideline calls for only two.
It states that a person should be declared brain dead after two tests done for ‘Brain Death Certification’ with the second six hours after the first.
The guideline also states that a “person certified to be brain dead is dead” and “the non-recognition either through ignorance or choice” can be construed as unethical.
“If
the law states that after the second test she should be declared dead,
why didn’t they do so? It is unfair to us to keep her alive even when
she was gone,” said Tinasha’s uncle, I Ramesh."We believe the doctors could have prolonged certifying her death," he added.
Tinasha’s mother, I Uthayabavani (left), said the family had no idea the second and third tests were administered until they received the medical reports.
She and Ramesh were speaking at a press conference today at their home in Petaling Jaya.
She added the family has already lodged a complaint with the Private Practice Control Unit (CKAPS) under the Health Ministry and also the MMC.
The MMC has fixed a hearing on Tinasha’s case for April 16 to probe the matter further.
Up in arms
Tinasha’s family are also up in arms over not having received their daughter’s post-mortem certificate despite it being almost four months since her death.
“Every time we ask, they tell us it is further delayed by several weeks. We have already gone there a couple of times already,” Ramesh told reporters.
Meanwhile, the family also alleged that the hospital bill of over RM50,000 charged to the girl’s insurance company contained extra charges for procedures and drugs that were not administered.
“Some
of the medicines that we were being charged were not even given by the
doctors to her. The same goes for some of the procedures we saw in the
itemised bill,” alleged Uthayabavani who claimed she was with Tinasha (right) the whole time during the ordeal.They said they found discrepancies in the types of medicines that was given to her and the amount for with they were charged as compared to prices outside.
They also alleged for some of the procedures billed, they had no recollection of the doctors administering them,adding when they consulted their own doctors, they were told they were unnecessary.
The family has already lodged a formal complaint with the insurance company to investigate the discrepancies and were told the process would take a month to complete.
CEO denies accusations
When asked if the family was going to pursue the issue and sue the hospital, the family said a legal suit would only be the last resort.
“We are not in it for the money [...] we want to utilise available avenues first for our case to be heard. Suing will not get the case anywhere.
“Let our daughter’s death be a sacrifice so that it can shed light on the various issues surrounding it so that no other family has to go through it,” said a grieving Uthayabavani.
Assunta Hospital chief executive officer Peter Leong when contacted today, denied the accusations of negligence and instead encouraged the family to go through proper channels if they were unhappy with the treatment Tinasha received.
“If they do have any such allegations, they can lodge a complaint and let the Health Ministry or MMC investigate,” he said.
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