PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry has initiated investigations into the death of an inmate who was alleged to have been denied timely and proper medical treatment.
An aide to the minister said the ministry would jointly probe the case with the Sungai Buloh Prison, following reports that the remand prisoner M. Proosothaman, 25 died from multiple organ failure due to disseminated tuberculosis (TB).
“The ministry is currently conducting an investigation together with the Sungai Buloh Prison on the matter.
“The probe is ongoing. A statement will be issued once its done,” the aide said today.
On Tuesday, Lawyers for Liberty’s Melissa Sasidaran claimed Proosothaman had complained of serious fever, stomach ache and diarrhoea since early this month, but was only provided with Panadol by the prison.
The deceased was only brought to the Sungai Buloh Hospital much later on May 21, 2019, before succumbing to the disease four days later.
“The pathologists who conducted the post-mortem briefed the family members and lawyer that the deceased would have shown gradual symptoms of tuberculosis such as prolonged coughing, coughing with blood, fever, loss of weight and appetite,” the family’s lawyer had said in a statement.
“Further, the deceased would have contracted TB for a few months prior to his death. However, the deceased was only diagnosed with the disease after he was admitted to hospital. By then the disease had spread throughout his body, causing multiple organ failure,” she added.
Melissa had said that the Home Ministry and the Prisons Department must accept responsibility for Proosothaman’s death as it was entirely preventable, and had urged for the matter to be investigated immediately.
