Ministry of Health officials have launched formal investigations into the death of an inmate at Kuala Lumpur’s Sungai Buloh prison, after accusations have arisen that he was not given proper medical attention.
LFL Press Statement: Breach of Prison Act & denial of medical treatment caused the death of Proosothaman https://t.co/DDNH377QRf
— Lawyers for Liberty (@lawyers4liberty) May 27, 2019
M. Proosothaman was serving his sentence when he began to suffer serious complications from disseminated tuberculosis. A report on his postmortem has suggested that his cause of death was multiple organ failure. Proosothaman was only 25 years old when he succumbed to the contagious lung disease.
An aide from within the Ministry confirmed that they are conducting a probe after activist legal group Lawyers for Liberty laid blame on the prison for providing sub-par medical treatment. Proosothaman had been ill for a month, complaining of a high fever, stomach pains and diarrhea. Prison officials only gave him over-the-counter Panadol for his serious ailments.
Only days from death’s doorstep, prison officials finally relented and sent him to Sungai Buloh Hospital for further treatment, before he ultimately passed.
An on-staff pathologist examined the prisoner following his death, and reported back to his family and lawyers that his illness would have been apparent in the weeks leading up to his passing. There would have been severe, prolonged coughing, coughing with blood, high fever, weight loss, and a decrease in appetite. Signs, one would imagine, that prison officials would have found hard to miss.
“Further, the deceased would have contracted TB for a few months prior to his death. However, the deceased was only diagnosed with the disease after he was admitted to hospital. By then the disease had spread throughout his body, causing multiple organ failure,” said a lawyer representing his family.
Lawyers for Liberty is now calling on both the Home Ministry, as well as the Prisons Department, to accept responsibility for Proosthaman’s untimely death, saying that it was “entirely preventable” had he been given correct treatment.
