Medical Law and Ethics in Malaysia

This book aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the issues relating to medical law and ethics in Malaysia, with a predominantly practical perspective. While a substantial part of this book is devoted to the constituent elements which make up the tort of clinical negligence, other legal and ethical issues relating to the practice of medicine and the provision of healthcare, such as patients’ autonomy, confidentiality, consent, issues on abortion and medically assisted dying are also explored in some detail. This book provides a practical perspective on the subject of medical law and ethics in Malaysia. Medical and legal practitioners, as well as students from both fraternities can expect to benefit from this book.

Table of Contents

1.        An Introduction to Medical Jurisprudence
2.        Medical Negligence and Malpractice: An Introduction
3.        Medical Negligence – Duty of Care
4.        Medical Negligence – Breach of Duty of Care
5.        Medical Negligence – Factual Causation
6.        Medical Negligence – Remoteness
7.        Medical Negligence Claims in Malaysia
8.        Damages
9.        Complaints, Grievance Mechanism and Professional Conduct Regulations
10.        Patient Autonomy, Consent and Capacity of Minors
11.        Confidentiality
12.        Medicine and Criminal Law
13.        The Mental Health Act 2001
14.        Medical Genetics and Organ Transplantation Services in Malaysia
15.        Abortion and Wrongful Birth Claims
16.        Medically Assisted Dying

About the Author(s)

Ramakrishna Tharini 
Ramakrishna graduated in medicine from Queen Mary University of London. A longstanding interest in the law led him to pursue a post-graduate diploma in law at City University, London. He was thereafter called to the English Bar at the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, and was subsequently admitted as an Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya. Practising predominantly in the field of medical law, he has been involved in the conduct of numerous clinical negligence claims and professional regulatory proceedings, acting for a wide range of clients including patients, healthcare practitioners and hospitals.

Ramakrishna is also a contributing editor to the ‘Annotated Statutes of Malaysia – Medical Act 1971’ and ‘Annotated Statutes of Malaysia – Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998’, both published by LexisNexis.

Jason Low
Jason graduated with an LL.B from the University of Leeds and was thereafter called to the English Bar at the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. His interest in exploring the interaction between medicine and the law led him to pursue a Master in Medical Law at Queen Mary University of London. Upon being called to the Malaysian Bar as an Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya, he commenced practice with a special focus on medical law, and was involved in the conduct of numerous clinical negligence claims, many of which involved complex issues of both law and medicine.

Jason is a contributing editor to the ‘Annotated Statutes of Malaysia – Medical Act 1971’ and ‘Annotated Statutes of Malaysia – Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998’, both published by LexisNexis. He was also a regular contributor to the UK based newsletter BioNews, published by the Progress Educational Trust (PET), where he reported on developments in the areas of genetics, assisted conception, embryo/stem cell research and other related areas.