JUDGMENT

Raus Sharif CJ:

Introduction

[1] This appeal arose from a claim by the husband and children of the late Madam Hoh Pau Yu ("the deceased") against Dr Michael Samy, a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist ("the 1st respondent"), and Gleneagles Hospital (KL) Sdn Bhd ("the 2nd respondent"). The deceased passed away in the Gleneagles Intan Medical Centre ("the Hospital"), a private hospital owned and operated by the 2nd respondent, after a childbirth attended to by the 1st respondent.

[2] Leave to appeal was granted by this court on 5 December 2013 for the following questions of law:

Question 1

If a doctor is aware of a dearth of medical knowledge in a particularly unconventional treatment, the potential risks involved and the contraindications which resonate against it, is that doctor under an obligation to advise a patient of these facts to enable that patient to decide whether to refuse or accept that particular treatment?