Plaintiff ordered to pay costs after failed lawsuit against SGH, surgeon
SINGAPORE — A man who failed in his lawsuit against the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and one of its orthopaedic surgeons was ordered to pay each of the defendants S$270,000 in legal costs today (May 14). Mr Andrew Chua must also pay fees for disbursements and an assessor, whom the High Court specially appointed to hear the case. Mr Chua, 54, had undergone a spine surgery performed by Dr Yue Wai Mun in 2007 after suffering an acute slipped disc that left him paralysed. When his condition did not improve after the surgery, he filed a suit in October 2012 against Dr Yue and the hospital, claiming negligence. Among other things, he claimed that Dr Yue was wrong to have operated on him from the back and had failed to order an MRI scan immediately after the surgery. Mr Chua alleged that these factors impeded his recovery. High Court Judge Woo Bih Li dismissed the suit, citing the “many shifts” in Mr Chua’s case throughout the trial. In a written judgment released last week, the judge also criticised two expert witnesses called by Mr Chua, describing their testimonies as illogical and unconvincing. “Andrew appears convinced that his condition would have improved if not for the negligence of Dr Yue. Ironically ... it may well be that if it were not for Dr Yue’s surgery, Andrew would not even have improved to his present condition,” said the judge. Dr Yue’s lawyer Lek Siang Pheng said the judge’s cost assessment was in line with the range they had requested. TODAY understands that this is the first time the High Court had appointed an assessor — Dr Yu Chun Sing, a senior consultant from Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery — to hear a medical-related case. http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/man-ordered-pay-sgh-and-surgeon-s540k-failed-negligence-suit
