Resolve medical negligence suits through arbitration, says ex-judge

 

Retired Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer says arbitration will ensure doctors’ confidentiality and avoid stress caused by defamatory allegations. (Freepik pic)

PETALING JAYA: A retired judge has proposed that medical negligence cases be resolved through arbitration instead of being litigated in courts.

Hamid Sultan Abu Backer said arbitration would help doctors maintain confidentiality and avoid the stress caused by defamatory allegations against them if it was heard in open court.

“Medical practitioners are likely to concede to negligence liability as the arbitration process is confidential,” he said at a conference in Seremban on Saturday, adding that it could help reduce the backlog in the courts.

He said “affordable arbitration” was the way forward for the medical profession in medical negligence cases.

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Hamid Sultan Abu Backer.

Hamid, who retired as a Court of Appeal judge last year, said the medical profession needed a “wake-up call”, describing the law on medical negligence as “in a hopeless state of affairs”.

“Those in the medical profession and who are involved in medical negligence disputes in court suffer the agony of a defamatory process with no privilege of defamation law.

“The litigants want money for their injuries and, in the process, the reputation of the medical professional is tarnished,” he said.

He said the medical professionals’ sufferings could be reduced or avoided by regulating the law on liability and quantum and having their disputes resolved through affordable arbitration. - FMT