Give due consideration to statement of doctor who treated Zulfarhan: MMA

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) hopes the Health Ministry will give due consideration to the statement of a doctor who attended to National Defence University of Malaysia (UPNM) student Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain (pix).
Its president Dr Ravindran Naidu said he believes the doctor had done the right thing when attending to the victim.
"The Minister, as a practicing doctor and clinician, will of course know that the attending doctor's impressions and observations at the time he saw the patient must be given most weight.
"What the doctor saw at the time of the patient's visit might have been very different from what was seen at the post-mortem.
"If the injuries were consistent with the history given by the victim, the doctor might have had no suspicion at all of any unlawful act having been committed," Ravindran said in a statement today.
Ravindran added the association hoped the ministry would come up with guidelines to ensure such incidents do not occur, after meeting with the doctor.
Zulfarhan Osman, 21, died at the Serdang Hospital on June 1 after allegedly being tortured by fellow students, reportedly over the theft of a laptop.
The victim was earlier believed to have received treatment twice at private clinics and it is learned that the doctors who treated him did not direct him to be taken immediately to a hospital despite being aware of his serious condition.
On Sunday, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the ministry will call the doctor for an explanation following the doctor's failure to report injuries sustained by Zulfarhan to the police.
He said the move to call the doctor was being done in accordance with professional ethics adopted by the Health Ministry.