Taiping prison’s in-house doctor, Dr Navin Esavik Vikrama, came under fire for leaving to meet the prison director in the cafeteria for 30 minutes while inmate Gan Chin Eng, who later died, was left waiting at the prison gate for an ambulance to take him to the Taiping Hospital.
Although Navin initially claimed that Gan was sent to the hospital within 15 minutes and denied meeting the prison director, CCTV footage and witness statements presented during the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) public inquiry showed otherwise.
“You lost track of time because you were too busy meeting the prison’s director. Do you not agree that this was negligent?” asked Suhakam commissioner Farah Nini Dusuki.
Navin did not answer her question.
Suhakam chairman Hishamudin Yunus, who co-chaired the panel alongside Farah, suggested that Gan’s condition might have deteriorated rapidly while being transported to the hospital, as the doctor failed to monitor his need for CPR.
Navin said when he took Gan’s vitals, the inmate appeared stable and he was able to breathe and talk despite fluctuating blood oxygen levels. He also said that he simply did not have enough time to get proper apparatus from the prison’s clinic in order to help Gan.
“We tried to send him to the hospital very quickly. It was impossible for us to go back to the clinic and get any equipment to help him. If we had done so, it likely would’ve delayed proper treatment more,” he said.
Limited medical equipment
Gan was ultimately sent to Taiping Hospital via a prison van, as Navin claimed that the ambulance took longer to arrive.
To Farah’s question as to why the van was not equipped for medical emergencies, Navin replied that only limited equipment was available to handle abdominal injury cases.
Gan was injured during a prisoner relocation exercise from the prison’s Hall B to Block E, in which more than 100 inmates were allegedly assaulted by about 60 prison wardens.
Earlier reports from Taiping Hospital revealed that Gan was pronounced dead on arrival, having been “brought unconscious with no signs of life”, with his cause of death being described as abdominal injury due to blunt trauma.
False documentation?
In Navin’s referral letter to doctors at the Taiping Hospital, he stated that Gan had sustained injuries to the left side of his chest after a fall in the toilet – information Navin allegedly obtained from other inmates.
However, two inmates known only as Alex and Adam, who helped support Gan to the main gate, stated in their witness statements that they never told the doctor any such thing.
The letter also provided contradictory information, with the main body of the document stating that Gan sustained injury to the left of his torso, whilst a later portion declared that he had “weakness and tenderness on his right”. Navin claimed it was an honest mistake, as “things were moving too quickly”.
“This is highly important information Dr Navin. You should not be making typos or mistakes in these particular situations,” Farah said in response.
Previously, Navin had admitted that the medical cards for other inmates who had sustained injuries during the Jan 17 incident might have been tampered with, though he insisted he did not do it.
Hishamudin, examining one inmate’s medical card, noted that the date “Jan 17” appeared superimposed over a faint “Jan 22”. He said it suggested that the inmates’ treatment might have been delayed beyond what the records showed.
The inquiry resumes tomorrow.
