MY mother went for treatment at a hospital, only to come out paralysed waist-down, and unable to control her bowels and bladder.

The specialist in his referral letter stated that there was nothing wrong with her even though an MRI showed that her spine was damaged.

A specialist from another hospital confirmed it but declined to comment further. He didn't even bother to brief my mother on the risks involved prior to the operation, telling us instead that she would be up and walking in a few days' time. She eventually died due to complications.

I was advised by several lawyers that lodging medical negligence cases against doctors, especially specialists in Malaysia, was futile. First, you need to get the opinion of another specialist, which is next to impossible as no doctor would testify against another.

Getting a doctor from a neighbouring country to testify would be very expensive as you would have to pay for their accommodation and loss of income while they are here.
In fact, I went around to look for several specialists in Ipoh. Some refused to talk to me. One doctor even told me to forget about it and that I was wasting my time.

Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Khoo Kah Lin had said that any negligence case is answerable, but how does one go about lodging a complaint and how long will it take?

I lodged a medical negligence report with the Ipoh MMA. After a few weeks of phone calls and reminders they said it was beyond their power to do anything and sent my report to the MMA Ethics Committee in Kuala Lumpur.

After another month I received a letter stating that the MMA was not empowered to do anything and advised me to write to the Malaysian Medical Council president in Putrajaya, which I did. I have yet to receive a reply.

If it is so difficult to lodge a complaint against any doctor in Malaysia, would anyone do so, especially for those in the lower-income bracket or with minimum education? Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai has said that medical negligence in Malaysia is minimal. That is probably because few cases are reported.

In many Western countries, doctors are careful in what they do as they can face lawsuits over botched treatments. In Malaysia there is hardly any form of redress for negligence.

In my mother's case, even the letter of consent was signed by her lying down without anyone explaining to her what it contained.

I hope the health minister will look into the matter as I am sure there are many negligence cases that are never reported because the victim just doesn't know what to do.