Dr Dzulkefly to get report from medical practice division over negligence suit involving circumcision

KUALA SELANGOR,  Dec 1 (Bernama) -- Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad today said he would obtain a detailed report from the ministry’s Medical Practice Division on the case of a man who claimed to be permanently incapacitated following a circumcision that went awry when he was eight years-old.

He said although it was an isolated case, such an incident should be viewed seriously to avoid  public anxiety.

“If there are any accidents and mistakes, we will  take remedial action. It (circumcision that went awry) rarely happens, but when it happens, we have to take note of it.

“I’ll check with the  Medical Practice Division to find out what happened, but I am confident the matter will be handled well,” he told reporters when met after opening a charity circumcision programme at Wakaf An-Nur Clinic, Masjid Nurul Iman Ijok, here today.

He said this in response to a suit filed by the teenager, through his mother, against  directors of two government hospitals and four others, including the government, for negligence over a circumcision that went awry.

Besides the government,which is the sixth defendant, the woman named a medical assistant and a medical officer at Kuala Lipis Hospital in Pahang and its director, as well as a specialist doctor and director of Selayang Hospital in Selangor, as the first to fifth defendant, respectively.

The woman claimed that because of the negligence, the head of her son’s penis was severed.

Meanwhile, 104 children, aged between four and 12 participated in the mass circumcision programme today which was sponsored by Hospital Pakar KPJ Specialist Hospital,  Pertubuhan Sosial Orang Kuala Selangor, Selangor Tithe Board and the Johor Leadership Programme 3-Johor Corporation.

-- BERNAMA