SINGAPORE – Two experienced doctors who have delivered thousands of babies were ordered to pay a Malaysian family nearly RM6 million (S$1.82 million) in medical negligence claims, after a mother in their care bled to death after giving birth.
Ms Punitha Mohan died from postpartum haemorrhage, hours after giving birth to her second child on Jan 9, 2019, at the Shan Clinic and Birth Centre in Klang, Selangor, having been admitted the night before.
Then 36 years old, she had her baby at around 10.30am that day under the care of Dr Ravi Akambaram, who also delivered her first child in 2016.
Dr Ravi had an agreement to use the premises of Shan Clinic owned by Dr Shanmugam Muniandi, who assisted with the 2019 delivery.
The two physicians have a combined medical experience of around 60 years and have seen through over 8,500 births.
They were defendants in the civil case brought by Ms Punitha’s family, with her parents, sister and two children named as plaintiffs in the judge’s ruling published on Jan 9.
About an hour after the birth of her second child in January 2019, nurses showed the baby to Ms Punitha’s waiting family, including her husband and brother, while she remained in the delivery room.
Ms Punitha was then heard shouting and her mother went into the delivery room, only to see her daughter bleeding profusely.
According to the written judgment, Dr Ravi had told the family he had to insert his hand into Ms Punitha to extract her placenta, adding that her uterus was swollen and causing heavy bleeding.
He told them not to worry and left the clinic, later admitting in court that he went for a drink. When asked why he left the woman in that state, he said he would just be gone for a little bit and return immediately.
The family also told the court that they saw Dr Shanmugam exiting the delivery room, leaving Ms Punitha in the care of three nurses who were later revealed to not be registered with Malaysia’s Health Ministry.
About two hours after the birth, at around 12.35pm, the nurses called a nearby hospital to ask if there was an expert available to treat a patient in critical condition.
According to the written judgment, Ms Punitha’s mother could see her daughter was having difficulty breathing and her body had become cold while the nurses attempted to stop the bleeding.
The two doctors were not present at the time. Dr Ravi returned to the clinic at 12.57pm and the patient was taken to hospital more than 20 minutes later.
Ms Punitha underwent surgery and died at around 5.25pm that day after resuscitation efforts failed.
The presiding judge Norliza Othman found that the two physicians, despite their vast experience, had failed to ensure their patient was free of complications before leaving her in the care of the nurses.
Postpartum haemorrhage, a condition described simply as excessive blood loss, could happen to any woman after giving birth, and they can be saved if given immediate treatment, she wrote in her judgment.
The tragedy could have been avoided if both doctors took prompt action to send the mother to hospital, instead of leaving her in the care of nurses while Dr Ravi went out for a drink, she added.
The family was awarded more than RM5.9 million in damages, including RM1 million for each of Ms Punitha’s two children, and RM1.5 million in aggravated damages against Dr Ravi, while Dr Shanmugam was ordered to pay RM700,000 in damages.
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