It's coming to 4 years since papa left us. We have all moved on from that painful experience of seeing how he suddenly took the turn for worse and eventually passed away.
But there has always been one issue that i have kept with me all this time, something which i have not been able to fully let go of.
You see, my father's health did not just took a turn for worse out of the blue. It was as a result of a treatment that he received at the Sunway Medical Center. Yes, i'm saying out the name of the hospital openly.
I have always harboured the view that they could have been negligent - not so much with regards to the treatment but more to the advice that was given.
I am pretty sure that the doctor did not warn him of the particular complication which in fact did arise after the treatment. It was obvious as it took everyone by surprise. Even the doctor himself.
Recently, during a talk on Medical-Legal Health matters, this matter resurfaced again in my thoughts. Sure enough, in the Federal court case of Foo Fion Na v Dr Soo Fook Mun & Anor applied the test in the Australian case of Rogers v Whitaker and held that doctors are under a duty to inform their patients of the risk involved so that the patient can make an informed decision.
In my father's case, they did not inform him of the risk of what in fact did happened. The fact that the doctor himself was surprised when it happened and had to consult a more senior doctor on he matter showed that the doctor failed to discharge his duty.
So i had the law behind me. But i wasn't sure if i shud or not. The reality of being involved in litigation hit me. After all, i'll be going up against a huge private hospital who will no doubt have the best lawyers in town. I've seen many times how the rich can forced their opponents to withdraw their claims - solely by their ability to keep their lawyers going on for a long time, with interlocutory applications and appeals.
But perhaps, the most important consideration - which in fact decided the matter for me - was whether i wanted to put my family thru it. Especially my mom. This will reopen a lot of old wounds and hurts. We will all be forced to revisit arguably the most difficult time in our family's history. The pain will resurface again. The memories, tho have fallen deep, will surely be brought back up again.
My family has moved on. More importantly, me mom has moved on. Everyone was so concerned for her at that time - but thank God she managed to pick herself up and had the will to live again and move on. She is doing so well - more than we had imagined, thanks to God's healing powers.
At the end of the day, even if we win the case, what will we get in return? Money for sure. A sense of justice being served? The need to blame someone has been satisfied?
I looked at my family now and see we are well off - not in terms of money, but in terms of our wants and needs. They do not need this - they have moved one. Perhaps it is time for me to move on too... and just let it be.
*Their last single before the break-up of the group. Quite fitting, dun u think?
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