CGH found guilty of negligence

Ms Noor Azlin Abdul Rahman, 39, is now fighting Stage IV cancer that has progressed to her brain. ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN

Changi General Hospital (CGH) has been found guilty of negligence in diagnosing a lung cancer patient and told to settle with her.

The patient had sued the hospital and three of its doctors, claiming that their negligence delayed the diagnosis and resulted in the cancer spreading. She now has Stage IV cancer.

Yesterday, the Appeals Court found the hospital guilty.

It said poor follow-up procedures and systems led to the diagnosis being delayed. In the meantime, the cancer had spread. The court said if the cancer had been diagnosed earlier, "we find it unlikely that the lung cancer would have progressed to Stage IIA".

The aggressive cancer has since spread to the patient's brain.

SEE TOP OF THE NEWS

Correction note: The headline for an earlier version of the story, "CGH and doc found guilty of negligence", was wrong. While the patient succeeded in her claim against Changi General Hospital, she failed in her claim against Dr Imran Mohamed Noor. Although the Court of Appeal said that Dr Imran had breached his duty of care for failing to schedule a follow-up appointment for the patient, it ultimately did not find him liable for negligence as the patient did not have lung cancer when she saw Dr Imran in 2007. We are sorry for the error.

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 27, 2019, with the headline CGH found guilty of negligence. Subscribe