A businesswoman who sued over a failed buttocks enhancement procedure has been awarded about RM308,000 in damages after the court held an unlicensed beautician liable for negligence and misrepresentation.
Melaka sessions court judge Azaraorni Rahman awarded the 34-year-old plaintiff RM150,000 for pain and suffering, RM3,200 being the cost of the procedure, RM54,834 for post-reparative and reconstructive surgeries, and RM50,000 for the cost of future treatment.
Azaraorni also ordered RM50,000 as exemplary damages against beautician Lai Ching Nee and co-defendant Amyza Let Beauty to serve as a deterrent to those in the aesthetic industry who offer their services in violation of the law.
She also ordered costs of RM20,000 against both defendants.
The judge said Lai was not qualified to undertake the task.
“There was no evidence placed before the court that Lai was an accredited medical doctor, a plastic surgeon or an aesthetic surgery expert recognised by a professional body,” the judge said in a 28-page judgment made available on Thursday.
She said Lai owed a duty of care consistent with the “neighbour” principle established in the celebrated 1932 case of Donoghue v. Stevenson.
Azaraorni said Lai also owed a fiduciary duty to the plaintiff given the high degree of confidence placed in her.
“The plaintiff expected the defendant to carry out her services and deliver the best outcome as promised,” the judgment read.
The judge also found that Lai had made several misrepresentations to the plaintiff.
She said Amyza, the second defendant, was vicariously liable for registering Lai as a provider of aesthetic services.
“The plaintiff has proved her case in negligence and misrepresentation on a balance of probabilities,” the judge ruled.
The plaintiff had contacted Lai after coming across an advertisement on a social media platform sometime between February and March 2023.
In her statement of claim, the plaintiff said Lai had informed her that approximately one litre of collagen — a substance used to restore volume and enhance firmness — would be injected into her buttocks at the beauty centre in Melaka.
The plaintiff complained of pain during and after the procedure, and a few days later a gel-like substance oozed from her buttocks.
Follow-up sessions and consultations with Lai bore little or no results which led the plaintiff to seek treatment at two private hospitals in Penang.
The remedial steps taken involved draining multiple abscesses and administering high-strength antibiotics to manage the infection.
The plaintiff was represented by Yasmeen Soh and Peter Siew.
The defendants, represented by Saw Mei Kee, have filed an appeal.
