“Doktor, saya mau X ray satu badan. Semalam saya ada jatuh sikit. Kalau doktor tak nak buat kalau apa-apa jadi kat saya nanti saya saman!”

I get quite a lot of demands like these, especially during my stint at A&E. Recently; a mother brought her child to a hospital in one of the northern states. She requested for a chest X-ray but was denied by a medical officer. In typical Malaysian fashion, the name of medical officer was shared on social media and she was accused of being insensitive and kurang ajar. There were some racism secukup rasa thrown into the mix as well. It turned out, the child had some sort of chest infection. In the eyes of the public, if the mother had not insisted on the chest radiograph, the child might have been exposed to deadly consequences.

For now, let’s leave it to the state health department to investigate. If the claims can be substantiated, it is best to be dealt with in a professional manner.