Court dismisses suit over doctor's 'suspicious' death

Nearly 13 years after a doctor’s “suspicious” death in Langkawi, the deceased’s family failed in their lawsuit against the government and police over his “botched” autopsy.

The High Court in Kuala Lumpur this morning dismissed the negligence civil action linked to the late Dr Sebastian Joseph, who served with a government clinic in Langkawi and was found dead in his quarters on Nov 17, 2010. He was 30 years old.

The family’s counsel M Visvanathan confirmed judicial commissioner Leong Wai Hong’s decision, adding that the civil court ordered the family to pay RM5,000 in costs to the defendants, namely the police and the government.

According to the lawyer, the judicial commissioner said the suit initiated in May 2018 was filed out of time per statutory limitation.

Per the Public Authorities Protection Act 1948, a claimant may only file a civil action within three years of the act or neglect alleged against the government and its agencies.

“The family is not taking the outcome well and I have instructions to appeal to the Court of Appeal,” the lawyer told Malaysiakini.

Through the lawsuit, the family was seeking general and exemplary damages, among other reliefs sought.

In 2010, after Sebastian’s death, his autopsy was conducted at Langkawi Hospital but the person in charge concluded that Sebastian’s cause of death could not be ascertained.

Sebastian’s family spent the next five years jumping through legal hoops to secure a second autopsy.

Botched autopsy

When the second autopsy was finally conducted, on March 17, 2015, the family’s worst fears were confirmed - the first autopsy conducted at Langkawi Hospital was botched.

The second autopsy was conducted by Universiti Malaya’s Department of Pathology professor Dr Kasinathan Nadesan and Australian consultant forensic pathologist Dr Richard Byron Collins at the UM Medical Centre.

Collins in his report noted: “The dilemma concerning the determination of the cause of death is undoubtedly a direct consequence of the inadequacy of the initial post-mortem examination.

“The quality of this procedure was, at best, grossly substandard and, in this day and age, entirely unacceptable.

“In my over 40 years of experience in forensic pathology, this particular autopsy is in the lowest standard grouping.”

It was discovered that several organs were not dissected or examined in the first autopsy while those that were, such as the heart and coronary arteries, were not properly done.

Kasinathan concluded that Sebastian’s death was due to heart disease, while Collins said it would be an injustice to attribute the death to heart disease due to the drugs found in the deceased’s body.

Collins said, as a result, Sebastian’s death ought to be investigated further.

The toxicology results by the Victorian Institute Forensic Medicine’s Department of Toxicology found the presence of synthetic chemicals and Collins said it was important for an investigation to determine how it got into the deceased’s body.

“Quite simply, this death should be regarded as a suspicious death, until all satisfactory investigations have been completed by the appropriate authorities.

“It would be a travesty, in my opinion, if it was assigned to natural causes in the present state of its incompleteness, and an injustice to both the deceased and his family,” Collins said.

Open verdict

The next course of action was an inquest, which was already granted by the Alor Setar High Court on Jan 7, 2015, when it instructed that Sebastian’s body be exhumed for the second autopsy.

The family then filed the civil court action in 2018.

In 2019, the coroner’s court in Alor Setar delivered an open verdict over Sebastian’s death, ruling that the inquest could not determine whether the death was due to suicide, natural causes, or foul play.

Sebastian’s only sibling, Anthony, 39, previously expressed hope that his family can receive closure on whether there was foul play involved.

He claimed the police did not take him seriously when leads and concerns about foul play were raised by the family.

Anthony alleged that his brother had previously complained about missing medication at his workplace.

Malaysiakini is attempting to reach out to the Attorney-General’s Chambers for a response over today’s civil court verdict.

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