Medical malpractice[1] occurs when a hospital, doctor or other health care professional, through a negligent act or omission, causes an injury to a patient.
Usually, a claim has the following features: a violation of the standard of care, an injury caused by negligence, and an injury resulting in significant damages. This article will bring you some of the headline-making medical malpractices and/or lawsuits in Asia.
The Expired Vaccines[2]
In January 2019, over 100 children received an expired polio vaccine in the eastern province of Jiangsu province. The children who were administered the vaccines were between three months and four years old, in Licheng County Hospital. Soon after, the local government disciplined 17 people over the incident. However, this is not the first time similar episodes have happened in China. In 2018, vaccine maker Changchun Changsheng Biotechnology was fined $1.3 billion and lost its manufacturing licence after an investigation found that the company falsified inspection and production reports for more than 110 thousand rabies vaccines.
The botched surgery[3]
In 2015, Nur Muhammad Tajrid Zahalan experienced excruciating pain after a routine surgery in a Kuala Lumpur private hospital in Malaysia. He was subsequently paralysed and went into a coma. After seven years of struggle, he died from severe septicaemia due to complications caused by paralysis from the allegedly botched surgery after years of suffering. The family brought the hospital and treating doctors to the Malaysian Medical Council. After years of delays, it ended with the surgeon Tikfu Gee being released from all three charges of professional misconduct. The medical tribunals and institutions alike in Malaysia have been long criticised for ‘protecting their own’.
Interestingly in Malaysia, according to data from the Ministry of Health, medical negligence and medical malpractice incidents have risen dramatically over the last few years[4]. Cases involving wrongful surgery, unintended retention of foreign objects and falls while in hospital reached nearly 10,000 cases in 2020.
The suicide[5]
Mr Steven Joseph Arokiasamy, 67, and Madam Tan Kin Tee, 66, in Singapore, are suing Dr Nelson Lee, a psychiatrist in private practice, and the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for the actions of its senior consultant, Dr Gomathinayagam Kandasami. The parents demanded 3.3 million SGD in damages and accuse the two abovementioned doctors of being negligent in the treatment of their son, which they say led to his suicide. They accuse Dr Lee of failing to diagnose their son with schizophrenia, and instead prescribing Concerta – a medication used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, to him at inappropriate doses. The lawsuit was heard in January 2023 in the High Court in Singapore, with the trial adjourned to September. If ruled in favour of the plaintiffs, this could be one of the most expensive payouts from medical practitioners to compensate for medical malpractices in the island nation’s history.
Overall, medical malpractice lawsuits can differ significantly among different countries, the form below lists some countries and their medical malpractice legal frameworks:
| Country | Legal Framework for Medical Malpractice |
| China[6] | It is governed by both civil and criminal courts, with a maximum criminal punishment of 3 years imprisonment. |
| Malaysia, Vietnam & Singapore[7,8,9] | Medical malpractice is only considered a civil matter, usually, parties settle with monetary compensation. |
| Philippines[10] | A medical malpractice case against a doctor is a generic term for what may technically be an administrative complaint, a civil suit for damages (under Article 2176 of the Civil Code), a criminal case (under Article 365 of the Revised Penal Code), or all three. |
| Indonesia[11] | Negligence of a medical action that occurs and causes death or some kind of injury is regulated in Articles 359 and 360 of KUHP (Indonesian Criminal Code), with maximum criminal punishment of 3 years imprisonment. |
Reference
1.ABPLA. What is Malpractice? [Internet]. Abpla.org. 2017. Available from: https://www.abpla.org/what-is-malpractice
2.China Is Probing Reports of Expired Polio Vaccines [Internet]. Time. 2019 [cited 2023 Apr 8]. Available from: https://time.com/5501745/china-police-investigate-expired-polio-vaccines/
3.Sentinel A. The Perils of Medical Malpractice in Malaysia [Internet]. www.asiasentinel.com. Available from: https://www.asiasentinel.com/p/perils-medical-malpractice-malaysia
4.Zukri. Cases on medical negligence on the rise, Health Ministry’s data… [Internet]. The Malaysian Reserve. The Malaysian Reserve; 2019. Available from: https://themalaysianreserve.com/2019/09/18/cases-on-medical-negligence-on-the-rise-health-ministrys-data-shows/
5.Parents seeking $3.3m from psychiatrist, IMH in medical negligence suit over son’s suicide | The Straits Times [Internet]. www.straitstimes.com. 2023 [cited 2023 Apr 8]. Available from: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/parents-seeking-33m-from-psychiatrist-imh-in-medical-negligence-suit-over-son-s-suicide
6.Zhu S, Li L, Li Y. China’s criminal penalty for medical malpractice: Too lenient or not? Legal Medicine. 2011 May;13(3):116–9.
7.Medical Negligence and Malpractice in Singapore | SingaporeLegalAdvice.com [Internet]. SingaporeLegalAdvice.com. 2018. Available from: https://singaporelegaladvice.com/law-articles/medical-negligence-and-malpractice-in-singapore/
8.Medical Negligence in Malaysia [Internet]. MESSRS KS Chew Lawyers & Associates – Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. [cited 2023 Apr 20]. Available from: https://www.kschewlaw.com.my/our-services/medical-negligence/
9.Mazur E, Duc VT. The Healthcare Law Review – The Law Reviews [Internet]. thelawreviews.co.uk. 2022 [cited 2023 Mar 2]. Available from: https://thelawreviews.co.uk/title/the-healthcare-law-review/vietnam
10.Proving medical malpractice [Internet]. Lawyers in the Philippines. 2016. Available from: https://lawyerphilippines.org/proving-medical-malpractice/
11.Santoso M, Djatmika P, Sugiri B, Suhariningsih S. The Regulation of Medical Malpractice in Indonesia Law System and Its Legal Implication. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iisteorg. 2017;7(4).
