Latest news with #medicalneglect
Free Malaysia Today
10-07-2025
- Free Malaysia Today
Man fined RM500 for negligence leading to friend's death
Oon Tien Yue being brought to the Ampang sessions court this morning. KUALA LUMPUR : A 36-year-old man was fined RM500 for failing to seek medical treatment for his friend, an act that ultimately led to the latter's death. Oon Tien Yue was charged in the Ampang sessions court with acting negligently by failing to obtain medical attention for Law Mun How, 37, thereby endangering Law's life. Investigations revealed that Law had been sleeping in a car parked in front of Oon's house in Taman Pandan Perdana, Ampang, from June 14 to June 20, during which time he appeared to be in a weakened state. Instead of taking him to a medical facility, Oon brought Law into his home and left him in the living room, where he died two days later. According to the facts of the case, a medical assistant alerted the police after Law was found dead in the house on June 22. The case was initially classified as a sudden death, but later reclassified as murder after a post-mortem revealed signs of foul play. The autopsy showed that Law had died from a bacterial infection resulting from untreated skin and bone injuries. A forensic examination also found multiple fractures – including on the left arm, right collarbone, and ribs on both sides – as well as bruises and abrasions on the face, arms, legs, and torso. Oon was charged under Section 336 of the Penal Code with endangering the life or personal safety of another, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of three months' imprisonment, a fine of up to RM500, or both. Magistrate Amalina Basirah Top imposed the fine after Oon pleaded guilty to the charge. The court also ordered the self-employed man to serve one month in jail if he fails to pay the fine. Deputy public prosecutor M Ramanathan led the prosecution while Oon was represented by a lawyer from the National Legal Aid Foundation.
Free Malaysia Today
10-07-2025
- Health
- Free Malaysia Today
Mother of man who died in prison custody awarded RM560,000 in damages
Lawyer M Visvanathan explains the Ipoh High Court's decision to R Muniamah and her nephew. They are flanked by counsel V Sanjay Nathan (left) and Pushan Qin Nathan. PETALING JAYA : The Ipoh High Court today awarded RM560,000 in damages to the mother of a man who died in prison custody on the day of his release in 2017, ruling that there was a systemic failure by the authorities to safeguard the health and wellbeing of R Siva. Judicial commissioner Moses Susayan found that Siva had been healthy and fit before his incarceration at Tapah prison. 'However, on the day of his release, a brother of the deceased was instead instructed to go to Tapah Hospital to collect his body,' he said in allowing the civil suit filed by Siva's mother, R Muniamah. He said the Tapah prison authorities had failed to inform the family of Siva's condition. 'There was suppression of information by the authorities, despite being in possession of the family's contact details,' Susayan said. The judge ruled that prison and police officers had deprived Siva of his liberty and failed in their duty to protect his wellbeing, including his right to life with dignity, and access to basic needs such as adequate healthcare, a proper diet, and timely medical attention. 'In this case, there was systemic failure and medical neglect. The defendants' own witnesses admitted to a dereliction of duty,' he said. A prison medical officer, under cross-examination, admitted that the facility was at its 'lowest ebb' at the time and failed to meet the standards required under the Prison Regulations and the Prison Act. Susayan awarded the following damages: RM200,000 in general damages for misfeasance in public office; RM300,000 in aggravated damages; RM10,000 for bereavement; RM38,400 for dependency claims; and RM15,500 in special damages. He also ordered the government to pay RM70,000 in legal costs. Siva, 30, died on March 20, 2017, the day he was supposed to be released after serving an eight-month jail sentence for theft. An inquest conducted by the coroner's court concluded that he died of natural causes due to disease. Muniamah named 13 defendants in her suit, including Tapah prison officers, police officers, and the federal government, citing negligence, breach of statutory duties, and misfeasance in public office. She was represented by lawyers M Visvanathan, V Sanjay Nathan and Pushan Qin Nathan, while senior federal counsel Siti Aishah Ramlan and federal counsel Siti Norashikin Hassanor appeared for the government.
Malay Mail
10-07-2025
- Malay Mail
Man gets RM500 fine for letting friend die from treatable wounds
KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 — A 37-year-old trader was sentenced to a RM500 fine after admitting he negligently failed to seek medical help for his severely injured friend, an e-hailing driver who died from infected wounds while under his care. Magistrate Amalina Basirah Md Top also ordered the accused, Oon Tien Yue, be jailed for a month if he fails to pay the fine, The New Straits Times reported. Oon negligently failed to seek medical treatment for Law Mun How, 37, in a manner that endangered the latter's life at a house in Jalan Perdana 6/5, Pandan Perdana, between 10.33am on June 20 and 7.50pm on June 22. The victim, who was seriously injured after allegedly being assaulted, had been sleeping in a car in front of the accused's house from June 14 to 20. On June 22, the accused brought the victim into the house, but left him in the living room without seeking treatment. A post-mortem on June 23 revealed that the cause of death was infected wounds, with bacterial infection in body tissues, including the skin and muscles. Deputy public prosecutor M. Ramanathan Alias Ashwin urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence due to the seriousness of the case. Oon, who was unrepresented, pleaded for leniency, saying he is responsible for the care of his elderly parents.
BBC News
25-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Witham mum-of-five 'begged' for help before Essex hospital death
A care worker "begged and pleaded" for help before dying shortly after childbirth, her mother Seaman, 36, told staff she could feel bleeding after delivering her fifth child at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex, in December mum, Sarah Shead, supports a national inquiry, and said of her daughter: "She told them she was dying and no-one took her seriously until it was too late and the damage was done."Broomfield's, chief executive, Matthew Hopkins said care was an "absolute priority" after Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced a national inquiry into maternity services. The final list of trusts involved was not revealed in Monday's the BBC was told bosses at the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSE) would meet with government officials as part of the investigation. A coroner in Auguest 2024 ruled multiple failures by staff amounted to "neglect" and led to Ms Seaman's death two days after giving birth at the MSE-run mother-of-five, from Witham, Essex had repeatedly warned of feeling dizzy and numb, alongside an internal "gushing"."She begged for her life, she begged me for her life and I thought they were doing everything they could do," Ms Shead told the BBC. "I will forever live with the fact that I didn't shout and scream and say 'What are you doing?', because they appeared to be doing everything."But what we were seeing was not what was actually happening." 'Too many deaths' Ms Seaman had been known to MSE officials to be at high risk of heavy bleeding was able to breastfeed her newborn before her condition deteriorated, later suffering a significant peritoneal haemorrhage that proved fatal."I'm the mother that lost a daughter who was fit, well and had a 99.9% of surviving had they realised her spleen had ruptured earlier," Ms Shead added. She said the national inquiry, due to begin this summer and report back by December, was overdue."I think this is the only way for the health service to learn where it needs to improve," Ms Shead explained."There are too many deaths, too many losses. My hope is this happens quickly."Maternity care at Broomfield Hospital was rated "inadequate" by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in Hopkins said he was overseeing an action plan to improve the safety of its care."The care and safety of families using our maternity and neonatal services is an absolute priority," he continued."We will support any work to tackle health inequalities and improve maternity services for families across the country." Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The Sun
20-06-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Mum caught committing sick act on her frail daughter, 3, as she lay in a hospital bed – & it exposed an even darker past
LYING in her hospital bed, three-year-old Alyssa was desperately ill – painfully thin and dehydrated, her little frame covered with tubes. Her apparently doting mother Brittany Phillips sat by her side. But, when the nurses' backs were turned, she did the most unspeakably depraved act to her defenceless little girl. 4 4 When no one was looking, Phillips smeared human faeces onto Alyssa's feeding tube in a bid to make her MORE ill. She was aping a case she read about online concerning Emily McDonald, a 23-year-old mother from Austin who, four months earlier, had been sentenced to 20 years in prison for poisoning her daughter by putting poo onto her IV catheter. It was later revealed that Phillips had keyed in terms to her computer like 'poo in the feeding tube' and 'pee in veins'. Sick poisoning Hours later, Alyssa developed a rare and extremely dangerous blood infection caused by her mother's perverted act. Without the swift actions of doctors at Cook Children's Medical Centre – she could have suffered from heart failure, a stroke or even death. And that was just the tip of the iceberg of the horrendous abuse Phillips had put her daughter through in her short life. Phillips had insisted that Alyssa had to be in leg restraints for medical reasons. She also said she needed to be fed by a tube as she choked if she ate solid food. The little girl was emaciated and her growth stunted. Several family members had been so concerned that they'd filed reports with the CPS in Fort Worth, Texas, but no action was taken. Distant family members Bill and Laura Waybourn had been suspicious ever since they'd seen Alyssa at a family party a few months before. 4 They'd heard Phillips warn everyone that Alyssa couldn't eat anything, if she did, she'd choke. "We witnessed her eat a piece of cake and she didn't choke at all. She appeared to be very hungry," Waybourn said. And his wife, a CPS worker "was suspicious". "She got a close-up look at Alyssa and felt like something wasn't right. But nobody had any idea what was really going on behind the scenes, which was actually torturous," he told The Daily Mail. It transpires Phillips had Munchhausen by proxy – also known as medical child abuse – where a parent or care giver fakes, exaggerates and even causes illness in their child for the purpose of getting attention or some other benefit. A later search of her laptop revealed pages and pages of online research into the illnesses and symptoms she then tried to manufacture in her defenceless young daughter. It also showed her prolific activity on mums' internet forums – where she catalogued Alyssa's many 'illnesses' in a bid for sympathy. The day that changed everything In August 2011, a few weeks after that family party, Alyssa was taken to Cook's hospital, where her mother told medics she had dehydration. This was one of many hospital visits Alyssa had endured by the time she was three, so much so, she had spend much of her life in hospitals, and was worryingly underweight and short for her age. Despite concerned friends and family filing several reports to CPS over the years, it was this hospital visit that set off alarm bells with medical staff. During that day, Phillips repeatedly tried to stop Alyssa from eating, claiming she would choke, despite medical staff observing otherwise. She was aggressive and rude, and she piled blankets on her daughter then claimed she had a fever. She appeared to paint Alyssa's mouth blue and then claimed she was alarmingly cold. Then, Phillips suddenly demanded blood tests on her daughter. The blood test results revealed a life-threatening infection that doctors said had to have been caused by the three-year-old being poisoned. Medics feared Phillips was abusing her child, so moved Alyssa to another room which had surveillance cameras monitoring any activity inside. Phillips quickly noticed the cameras and was furious. Alyssa, on the other hand, under the watchful eye of a camera, rapidly got better. So much so, hospital staff alerted the authorities and Alyssa was taken out of Phillips' care and an investigation was launched. Following a brief period in foster care, the Waybourns took the little girl into their home, later adopting her. In an interview, Bill Waybourn said they 'saw tremendous improvements immediately' adding: 'She started eating by mouth everything in sight. The doctors were blown away by how well she was doing.' But over time, the Waybourns noticed trauma manifesting in Alyssa's behaviour. 'She was really protective of her food. If she had a plate of food and got down from the table for a minute and came back and the plate was gone, she would be extremely upset,' Waybourn recalled. 'She also had a funny gait where she would walk on her toes. We had to coach her out of doing that, to walk on her whole foot.' Alyssa's reaction to medical staff and treatments was also telling. British cases of Munchausen Syndrome revealed In August 2016 a woman from south London has been jailed for fraud and child abuse after causing her children to undergo surgery for fictitious medical problems. Croydon Crown Court heard the mother of six, who cannot be named for legal reasons, persuaded doctors to prescribe copious medication and provide equipment for her children worth more than £145,000, which - as they did not require it - was potentially dangerous for them, the prosecution said. She also convinced them to perform invasive operations and insert feeding tubes into her son and daughter's stomachs. Serial killer nurse Beverly Allitt, dubbed the Angel of Death was given 13 life sentences in 1993 for murdering four children, attempting to murder another three and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to further six at Grantham and Kesteven hospital in Lincolnshire. The former nurse was diagnosed as suffering from Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSbP) when she carried out the attacks between 1991 and 1993. In January 2010, Lisa Hayden-Johnson was sentenced to three years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to charges of child cruelty and perverting the course of justice – in one of the most notable examples of Munchausens by proxy. Hayden-Johnson began her deceitful actions shortly after the birth of her son Matthew in 2001. Claiming he was afflicted with numerous severe health issues, including cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, and severe food allergies, she subjected him to unnecessary medical procedures and interventions. These included the use of a wheelchair, feeding tubes, and numerous hospital visits, totalling over 325 medical encounters. 'If you took her to a doctor or a paediatrician - even for something small like an earache - she would just totally freeze up,' he said. 'Those were all things we saw in the beginning. That went on for a long time.' Waybourn says a 'big fear' for him and Laura was that Phillips would try to regain custody of Alyssa. Terrifyingly she was allowed to visit at the beginning – up until the time Alyssa developed a rash after her mother had given her new toys. The Waybourns were sure she had put a substance on them to cause it. After that she wasn't allowed to see her. Over the years Alyssa has told her adopted parents some of what she endured. She confided that her mother used to pull her feeding tube in and out. She also coached her to choke in the doctor's surgery. In 2015, aged seven, she testified against her mother in court. Cuddling a teddy bear, she raised her T-shirt to reveal the physical evidence of her mother's torture – a scar on her stomach from unnecessary surgery to insert the feeding tube. Mental scarring No one will ever know the extent of the mental scarring. Despite her mother's actions though, Alyssa, who's now 17, is flourishing. 'Alyssa is not a victim,' Waybourn says. 'She is a thriving little woman and I couldn't be more proud of her.' Phillips' original court case was declared a mistrial. But soon after, in exchange for a five-year prison sentence, Phillips pleaded guilty to serious bodily injury to a child. In April 2022, a couple of years after she was released from prison, Phillips was found dead from an apparent overdose. According to Waybourn, Alyssa was initially teary. She went for some time alone in her room, and then when she came out she said: 'I'm free, free at last.' Finally she knew that her mother could never hurt her again. Alyssa's story is told in a book by Andrea Dunlop and Mike Weber entitled The Mother Next Door: Medicine, Deception and Munchausen by Proxy. Mike Weber, a now-retired Tarrant County investigator worked on Phillips' case. 4
