KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 — A shortage of medical experts willing to testify in negligence cases can contribute to lengthy court proceedings, Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) president Dr Kuljit Singh said.
Dr Kuljit said doctors were reluctant to act as expert witnesses because of the time and cost involved, while some were hesitant to testify against colleagues in Malaysia’s relatively small medical fraternity.
“Doctors hesitate to testify against peers because it’s a small medical community. Everybody knows each other,” Dr Kuljit said in a podcast interview with The Japhire Gopi Conversations uploaded on September 17.
He said medical negligence cases could consequently take three to five years to resolve.
