KOTA KINABALU: Forensic pathologist Dr Jessie Hiu informed the Coroner’s Court today that the attending doctor told her phenytoin is routinely administered as a preventive measure against seizures.
Testifying at the inquest into the death of Zara Qairina Mahathir, Dr Hiu said she was uncertain if the anti-seizure drug was given when the girl was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital on July 16.
Datuk Ram Singh, who represented one of the five accused children in the case, questioned Dr Hiu about her witness statement mentioning phenytoin.
“In your post-mortem report, paragraph 29, (on the toxicology analysis that phenytoin was detected in the kidney tissue). Do you know that treatment on the deceased was only given when she was brought to hospital?, ” Ram Singh asked.
Dr Hiu replied: “I don’t know. The attending doctor informed me that they routinely give phenytoin as prophylaxis in severe traumatic brain injury patients.”
Ram Singh then pressed further and asked if she had access to the deceased’s medical records before compiling the post-mortem report.
Dr Hiu responded that apart from records dated July 16 to 17, she was unable to obtain earlier hospital records.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
