Article contributed by Vanimalar Money Selvam, Officer, National Young Lawyers Committee; and photos by Muhammad Bazli Naim Abdul Azid, Administrative Assistant, Bar Council
On 20 May 2016, the Bar Council National Young Lawyers Committee (“NYLC”) organised a workshop entitled “Medical Negligence” at the Raja Aziz Addruse Auditorium, Straits Trading Building. The objective of the workshop was to educate young lawyers on the law of medical negligence.
The workshop saw a great turn–up with approximately 60 participants, whom comprised Members of the Bar, pupils in chambers and law students. The Co–Deputy Chairperson of NYLC, Vivekananda Sukumaran, welcomed the participants and proceeded to invite the speaker, Tanya Lopez, to deliver her presentation.
Disclosure of the risks; causation; and the applicability of the Bolam test*; were the main topics of the workshop. In addition to that, the speaker also addressed issues such as whether the courts have moved away from medical paternalism to pave the way for patient autonomy, and to what extent hospitals owe a duty of care to patients.
During the second session of the workshop, participants directed various questions to the speaker. There was lively interaction between the speaker and the participants during the question–and–answer session.
The workshop concluded with closing remarks delivered by Vivekananda Sukumaran. A token of appreciation was presented to the speaker.
NYLC believes that the workshop was successful, and the participants have acquired adequate knowledge on the subject.
*Bolam test — standard of care between a doctor and his or her patient is a matter of medical judgement