The family of M Thanaseelan sent a memorandum to the Health Ministry in Putrajaya today, demanding an independent investigation on the Kuala Kubu Baru Hospital and its doctors for failing to give the required attention and treatment to Thanaseelan.

This comes following the death of Thanaseelan, 43, at the Bukit Sentosa police station, Bukit Beruntung, at 1.50am on Feb 25.

"We're demanding an independent, transparent and professional investigation into the conduct of the Kuala Kubu Baru Hospital and the doctors who were responsible for Thanaseelan.

"And for appropriate actions to be taken against the hospital and also the doctors in charge of him (Thanaseelan)," the family's lawyer, Melissa Sasidaran (photo) told Malaysiakini.

However, the family was disappointed upon arriving at Putrajaya, as they were not able to meet the health minister, nor a senior official to pass the memorandum to.

The memorandum was accepted by a person from the ministry’s Communications Division.

According to Melissa, the family members were told that the minister, his deputy and the director of health were all in India, together with the prime minister, and therefore were not able to receive the memorandum.

The post-mortem carried out on Thanaseelan revealed that he died of "septicaemia due to suppurative peritonitis as a consequence of perforated gastric ulcer".

Thanaseelan may have experienced considerable pain due to the serious gastric, ulcer, perforation and infection for at least a week prior to this date, pathologists said.

"As the pathologists said, this is chronic gastric but it is not something that people normally die of, especially since he was taken to the hospital," Melissa said.

Thanaseelan was found dead at 1.50am, hours after he was examined at the Kuala Kubu Baru Hospital.

He was given antacid, a common drug that can be obtained without a prescription, and was sent back to the police station despite the seriousness of his condition.

"Why was he sent back? There shouldn’t be double standards in terms of treatment to an ordinary patient and for someone in detention," Melissa said citing an oath that doctors are required to swear upon.

Physicians are required to treat an ill person to the best on their ability, as required by the Hippocratic Oath.

The lawyer also urged the Health Ministry to seriously look into the deaths of detainees, which otherwise should have been preventable.

The Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) confirmed that it has commenced its investigation into Thanaseelan’s death a day after it occurred.