SHAH ALAM (The Star/Asia News Network) - A man was awarded RM67,000 (S$23,209) in damages on Thursday (April 21) from a specialist hospital over a cockroach in his lunch.

Wan Hailmey Mahrawi, 38, said he was served the food while warded at the KPJ Selangor Specialist Hospital last May for treatment of a cervical disc disorder.

He discovered the insect in the vegetables, but by then he had eaten its "head and leg". He suffered from dizziness, vomiting, loss of appetite, stomach pain and fever afterwards.

The man, who works as a customer service office, file a negligence suit last August seeking damages from the hospital. He said he was so traumatised that he is wary of eating rice.

However, Selangor Specialist Hospital Sdn Bhd, which runs the KPJ hospital and is listed as the defendant in the suit, said Wan Hailmey fabricated the story and that he had not complained to the hospital over his stomach pain, vomiting and fever.

Sessions Court judge G. Ramesh ruled on Thursday in favour of Wan Hailmey, who had called upon two witnesses, including a housekeeper leader.

Judge Ramesh ordered Selangor Specialist Hospital to pay the plaintiff RM7,000 over his abdominal pain and diarrhoea for five days, and another RM60,000 in exemplary damages.