KUALA LUMPUR: A British woman is suing a major private hospital in the city for extracting her personal medical records, alleging they intended to use it against her in a separate negligence suit she has over an alleged error that led to her son’s disability.
Christine Lees is seeking RM3 million in special damages on top of general and punitive damages from Prince Court Medical Centre for breaches of contract, fiduciary duty and confidentiality, as well as for violating her privacy rights and data protection laws.
She says the hospital set out to shame her by releasing her medical records to its lawyers as part of its defence in the negligence suit.
Lees claims to have suffered emotional distress, psychiatric injury, loss of privacy and reputational harm as a result of the disclosure. She also says she has incurred substantial economic loss.
“The plaintiff (Lees) has lost business clients and suffered a loss of at least RM3 million due to being unable to manage her business as a result of the emotional anguish suffered following the incident,” she said.
However, Prince Court contends that the suit was an “act of intimidation” in the face of the ongoing negligence case which is midway through trial.
The hospital asked for the medical records suit to be dismissed with costs, contending that Lees had given it consent to advise, diagnose and treat her in 2016, and had agreed with all terms and conditions set by the hospital.
It said all records of her treatment and surgery were hospital property under the law and that her consent to the terms set complied with all data protection laws.
In her statement of claim filed in January, Lees said the hospital had intentionally released her medical records to its lawyers for use in the ongoing medical negligence suit.
In the negligence suit, she claims her now eight-year-old son had been left with a lifetime disability due to the hospital’s alleged failures in managing his treatment.
Lees said the hospital had failed in its duty to protect her in her capacity as its patient.
“They had unilaterally extracted my medical records without my consent,” she said.
She accused Prince Court of either “negligently” or “deliberately” releasing sensitive information by handing to its lawyers a print-out made on May 10 last year for use during the negligence trial.
Lees said that in doing so, the hospital had breached the Personal Data Protection Act.
However, in its defence, Prince Court contended that Lees had given the hospital consent to advise, diagnose and treat her in 2016, and had agreed with all terms and conditions set by the hospital.
Under the Private Healthcare Services and Facilities Act, all records of her treatment and surgery were the property of Prince Court, the hospital said.
“Her lawyers at the medical negligence trial also did not object to her medical records being submitted and there was no application to expunge the record,” Prince Court said further.
The hospital also said the 11-page medical record was relevant to the negligence suit, as shown when Lees’s own lawyers referred to it during their cross-examination.
Prince Court contends that the case was an abuse of process.
“Coming to the court without revealing the facts of the ongoing negligence suit shows the plaintiff has not come to court with clean hands,” the hospital said.
At case management last Friday (June 14), Prince Court’s lawyers sought a transfer of the case to the sessions court, a move objected to by Lees’s solicitors. The hospital’s lawyers were then told to file a formal application seeking the transfer.
Last month, the High Court dismissed both Lees’s application for summary judgment and an attempt by the hospital to strike out the suit on grounds that it was an abuse of process and designed to delay the hearing of the ongoing negligence suit.
Lees is represented by Messrs Naidu Chambers, while Messrs Siva Dharma & Associates appear for the defendants. - FMT
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