AFIQ BIN AZMAN v 1. ) MARYANI BINTI AHMAD 2. ) KETUA JABATAN HEMATOLOGI & TRANSFUSI HOSPITAL SULTANAH BAHIYAH 3. ) PENGARAH HOSPITAL SULTANAH BAHIYAH

ka-12b-4-02-2025 High Court (Mahkamah Tinggi) 19 November 2025 • KA-12B-4-02/2025 • 31 min read

15 cases cited (0 SG, 15 foreign)

Catchwords

TORT: Negligence — Medical negligence — Blood donation procedure — Venepuncture — Negligent arterial puncture — Diagnosis of pseudoaneurysm and compartment syndrome — Standard of care — Breach of duty — Transfusion Practice Guidelines (3rd Edition, 2008) — Systemic and corporate failure — Personnel credentialing and privileging — Lack of contemporaneous supervision by medical officer. PROFESSIONS: Medical practitioners — Duty to advise on material risks — Informed consent — Patient autonomy — Rogers v Whitaker test — Foo Fio Na principle — Distinction between generally known complications and rare, severe risks — Materiality of risk to a first-time donor — Judicial assessment of risk significance. EVIDENCE: Expert evidence — Conflict between treating physician and independent expert — Primary medical facts vs. theoretical opinion — Factual witness — Preference for contemporaneous clinical findings of a treating surgeon — Dr KS Sivananthan principle — Admissibility — Adverse inference — Section 114(g) of the Evidence Act 1950 — Non-production of mandatory logbooks and post-donation observation forms. DAMAGES: General damages — Pain and suffering — Loss of amenities — Complex vascular limb injury — Pseudoaneurysm of the brachial artery — Compartment syndrome — Assessment of quantum — Multiplier and comparability of awards — Special damages — Strict proof of medical expenses. CAUSATION AND APPORTIONMENT: Causation — Lord Denning’s "but for" test — Cork v Kirby Maclean Ltd — Contributory negligence — Failure to mitigate — Refusal of hospital admission — Whether refusal constitutes novus actus interveniens — Apportionment of liability — 70:30 ratio — Tan Ah Kau principle. CIVIL PROCEDURE: Appeal — Principles of appellate intervention — "Plainly wrong" test — Judicial misappraisal of medical evidence — Evaluation of oral and documentary evidence — Costs — Global award for trial and appeal — Complexity of litigation involving multiple medical specialities.

Judges (1)

John Lee Kien How @ Mohammad Johan Lee Delivered

Counsel (5)

Attorney General Chambers Firm S. Raman & Co Firm Abdul Rahman Md Zuki Counsel Respondent M Humavathi A/P Manikavelu Counsel Appellant Nurul Waheda Abd Rahman Counsel Respondent

Parties (4)

KETUA JABATAN HEMATOLOGI & TRANSFUSI HOSPITAL SULTANAH BAHIYAH Respondent PENGARAH HOSPITAL SULTANAH BAHIYAH Respondent Afiq bin Azman Appellant Maryani binti Ahmad Respondent

Statutes Cited

Evidence Act 1950 (Cap 56)

Cases Cited (15)

UK (1)

[1952] 2 All ER 402

MY (14)

[1981] 2 MLJ 21 [1995] MLJU 183 [2001] 1 MLJ 35 [2007] 1 MLJ 593 [2016] 3 MLJ 742 [2016] 6 CLJ 225 [2017] 5 CLJ 335 [2017] 5 MLJ 438 [2018] 1 MLJ 784 [2018] 3 MLJ 281 [2019] 4 CLJ 281 [2022] 10 MLJ 469 [2023] 8 MLJ 110 [2023] 9 MLJ 629

Judgment

Read the full judgment on the official Malaysia Courts portal.

Read on eJudgment

Source: eJudgment (ka-12b-4-02-2025)