Thursday 5 March 2009

Dog (sic) Plays Politics ....


NST (who else would ...) published a "hard-hitting defence" of the first autopsy report - sadly the doctor has obviously forgotten his Forensic Medicine. Maybe he's just someone recruited to be a pencil-pusher with a title under the NEP ....
Not too long ago, a poll indicated that Doctors are high on the list of "trusted" people - well, I suppose that will change soon, especially if he's still involved in govt "bureaucracy", I suppose. It is sad that the Hospital authorities cannot have a spokesperson who has some common sense and wouldn't shame the medical profession.

Dang, man - you don't need to be a medico to know that a dead body doesn't bleed 5 days post mortem! Any layman with an iota of common sense, will tell you that - what more a pathologist!!
Although food does exit the stomach after 4 hours, Norzi also appears to be totally ignorant of pathological changes brought about by starvation. However, one might have to concede - maybe Norzi belongs to a different species (like camel maybe), and his GI mucosa and hepatobiliary system stays that way indefinitely .....

Well at least, I believe the "pulmonary oedema" part (which I guessed earlier, from the pics- the frothy discharge through the mouth is a giveaway) - however, that is the secondary cause. That's like saying the victim died of cardiac arrest, which is the end result in all deaths! The question unanswered was - the cause of an acute Pulmonary Oedema in a healthy young adult who isn't known to suffer from any ailments.
As the second autopsy revealed, it must have been primary to Acute Renal Failure (Acute Tubular Necrosis) as a result of Rhabdomyolysis brought about by the beating Kugan sustained.

Anyway, it is sad that there was an attempt to mislead the public and family in the initial statements, wherein it was said that Kugan died of "Asthma", when it should have been "Cardiac Asthma" and "fluid in his lungs", when it should've been "Pulmonary Oedema" (or at least swelling of the lungs, in layman terms). Big difference in the implications of those words .....
This kind of twisting of facts by certain quarters is at best, disgusting!

Norzi insults the Medical Sciences and all doctors by saying that Pathological findings is "weak evidence"!!
That is an outright lie!! It must be another attempt at misleading the public.
I believe, the MMA ethics commitee/ SCHOMOS, although has no direct bearing in this case, should make a press statement to save some face for all the unrewarded, selfless, excellent and dedicated Medical Practioners in the Government service.
And to Norzi Ghazali - go back to Med-school, or at least watch some CSI on TV, dammit!!
If not, just go hang!!
Meanwhile, we wait for images of the Kulim 6, who were apparently shot ON TOP of the head by "well trained marksmen"( MPs allege Kulim six were shot in the head ).

Over to you Ismail Merican & MMC ....
(note to MMC & Ismail Merican : please avoid jailing doctors for minor misdemeanors)

PS I hope we don't see a "Bala act" with Dr. Amberkar ....
============================================
So, here it goes the press release by NST, taken from MalaysiaToday ....

Hospital: Mob tampered with Kugan's body

(NST) - Serdang Hospital yesterday fought back against accusations of a misleading post-mortem on police detainee A. Kugan. Its director, Dr Mohd Norzi Ghazali, said a mob of about 50 people had barged in and tampered with the body before any post-mortem was carried out by the hospital's forensics pathologist.

Dr Norzi said his medical officers sought cover for two hours in a connecting room of the mortuary as they feared being hurt by the mob.

The post-mortem, he said, was supposed to take place at 8am the next day as police personnel had to be present during the procedure.

A report on the incident at the morgue by the hospital authorities stated that Kugan's fully-clothed body was in a body bag, which had been torn open by the mob.


The medical officers also reported they were shocked to see a pool of Kugan's blood on the floor of the mortuary.
This, the report said, indicated that wounds on the body could have been inflicted after his death.

The report also stated that the 22-year-old had died of pulmonary oedema or fluid in the lungs. It also stated that there were no fractures on his body or damage to his vital organs.

However, Kugan's family lawyer, N. Surendran, said the second post-mortem conducted by University Malaya Medical Centre's pathologist Dr Prashant N. Samberkar revealed that his death was due to kidney failure caused by muscle injury that might be attributed to physical, chemical or biological factors.

Dr Norzi told the New Straits Times that both post-mortems were "weak evidence" in the case as they had been conducted after the body had been tampered with.

On claims that Kugan, a suspected car thief, had been starved for six days before he died, Dr Norzi said a person's stomach would be cleared of traces of food about four hours after his last meal.

Attorney-General Chambers' prosecution division head Tun Majid Tun Hamzah received the second post-mortem report from Surendran yesterday.

Tun Majid said comparisons would be made between the reports for a just decision.

"This won't be long, hopefully within this month. The chambers will inform the public of its decision."

Kugan died at the Subang Taipan police station while being interrogated on Jan 20, six days after he was arrested in connection with car thefts.

Kapar member of parliament S. Manikavasagam, who accompanied Surendran to the chambers, said a police report would be lodged against the Serdang pathologist either tomorrow or Saturday "over a false and misleading post-mortem".

In Kuala Lumpur, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar said police would wait for the A-G's decision before taking action against the 11 policemen involved in Kugan's death.

Federal Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Bakri Zinin said he had obtained a copy of the second post-mortem report from Prashant.

"As per procedure, we will record his statement," he said.

In Kota Baru, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar has reiterated that the case should not be politicised.

He said he was surprised that the second post-mortem report was announced at the office of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) on Tuesday.

"When it was announced at the PKR office, it means that they are mixing a crime investigation with politics. This case has nothing to do with politics."

No comments:

Post a Comment

NOTE: We do not live in a Legal vacuum.
A pseudonym/ nickname with comments would be much appreciated.